Switching Places
by cytpotter
Summary: What happens when Mike is injured on a mission and Sarah decides to help Mike and Kitt out by volunteering to be Kitt's new driver? First fan fic! Please be kind! Read! Rated T for lang. and action
1. Chapter 1

Knight Rider

If I owned Knight Rider or any part of it I'd have a computer tech to let me

know if I was doing this right or not! So no I don't own it:0

Ok (I hope this works) This is my first fan fic, so please be gentle!

Knight Rider

Switching Places

Chapter 1

August 1996

"Hey! Wait up!" called the thirteen-year-old girl in a ball cap and a ponytail as she scrambled through the thick under- brush trying to keep up with the tall lanky fourteen-year-old boy ahead of her.

"I told you, not to follow me," he called back lengthening his stride to try to further discourage the girl.

"Mike! Come on! You know if my dad finds out that I'm this far from the house I'll be in trouble!" Sarah called as she pushed through the last of the thick brush. A sharp twig caught on her t –shirt and ripped a hole in the short sleeve before scraping down the bare skin leaving a angry red scratch.

"Oooouch!" Mike heard Sarah wail, and with a big huff that blew his long sandy brown hair out of his clear blue eyes he swung around to go see what had happened to the annoying kid who had dogged his every step for the entire summer vacation.

"Kid, I keep telling you to get lost and you never listen to me!" Mike grumbled sullenly as only a teenage boy is able to do.

Sarah looked down at her arm and watched as the long scratch began to fill with blood, she knew that the grumbling teenage boy who was now making his way back towards her had been trying to loose her for most of the summer but with her parents constant bickering, Mike was the only friend she had for miles around.

"I'm no kid! You're only fourteen, a year older then me! And besides, who else are you going to talk to? You told me yesterday that you aren't going to talk to your mom for the rest of the summer." Sarah said as Mike stopped in front of her and grabbing a hold of her arm, lifted it up for a better look at the cut.

"I'll be fifteen next month, so that makes me two years older then you! And I don't think it's any of your business who I do, or don't talk to!" Mike growled, but his voice softened a bit as he let go of Sarah's arm and pushed his hand into his faded blue jeans pocket pulling out a Kleenex. "Here put this on it, it'll keep the blood from running all over the ground until we get to my place and I can put a band-aid on it."

Sarah frowned at Mike but did as he said. "Mike… why are you going way up here anyway?" She looked around the clearing where they stood and could tell that they were well up on the side of the mountain that was in back of her house.

"I don't have to tell nosey kids like you anything, now stay here! I'll be right back" Mike snapped, his voice angry once again, as he marched off towards the far side of the little clearing.

Sarah watched as Mike walked almost a hundred feet to the far side of the clearing near a slight break in the tree line, that's when she could hear the far off bark of an engine getting steadily closer. Then within minutes she saw two ATV's pull out into the clearing from between the break in the trees. As she watched Mike approached the lead rider and began talking to him. With the distance and the engine of the supped up ATV still idling she couldn't hear what was being said, but Mike was gesturing around angrily with his hands. The rider on the ATV shook his head, then pointed over at her. Mike stepped closer to the guy on the ATV, shaking his head, but the rider simply tipped his head back as if laughing and gunned his ATV making the front end come up off the ground then whipping around, tore back into the woods the way they had come. The second rider gave a small wave before he too disappeared back into the trees.

The sound of the ATV's had faded to nothing before the teenage boy turned and stalked back across the clearing, anger emanating off of him in waves. He didn't slow down at all when he reached the girl but continued right past her and into the heavy brush.

Sarah watched as the thick bushes swallowed Mike, she had been surprised by the cold anger in his eyes as he had made his way back across the clearing. What had Mike wanted with those two ATV riders? She had never seen either of them before she was sure of it, the growing stillness brought Sarah out of her thoughts and she pushed back into the brush to follow Mike.

Even though Sarah had never been this far up on the mountain before she knew where she was going, several summers of exploring these woods with Mike left her with a good sense of direction. With a father who was consumed with his work in his computer lab, and a mother who was more and more lost in the books that she wrote, Sarah had a lot of time on her own. The security/ farm workers that were on the farm kept an eye out but it wasn't difficult for a kid to slip past them when they were busy running the farm.

In two weeks she would be going back to the same private school she had attended for the last three years, back with her friends. She smiled as she thought about her two best friends, Clare and Becky, they always had such tales to tell of their summer vacations in exotic places. Not that Sarah and her mom didn't travel, but her father rarely left the farm. He was a good dad, she loved to go in his lab and listen to him tell her about his work, she had already decided that she was going to go into Cybernetics like her dad. It was just the loneliness out here on the farm, and the tension between her mom and dad, that left the thirteen year old feeling confused and sad.

Sarah was surprised when she saw the log cabin that Mike and his mother lived in, she couldn't believe that she had walked that far deep in thought.

"There you are kid. I thought I was going to have to go looking for you." Mike's sullen voice said as he came out the cabin door with a can of cola in his hand.

Sarah rolled her eyes at him, boys!

"Well get over here so I can clean up that cut before you go home. You don't want your mom or dad to see that and think you'd sneaked off into the woods again," he reached into the cabin and brought out the first aid kit.

Sarah sat on the porch and offered Mike her arm, he'd doctored several of her cuts in the past. Exploring in the woods had its dangers.

"Where is your mom?" Sarah asked as she watched the older boy wash the cut, flinching slightly as the water stung the scraped flesh.

"Out," was all that Mike said as he applied polysporin and taped a neat bandage on her arm.

Sarah could still see the anger in his tight face and the way he held his body so stiff, but his hands were gentle as he administered first aid on her scratch. She wondered once again where he'd learned the first aid, not just that but it was the way he moved through the woods. The survival skills that he taught her on their many adventures exploring the wilderness that surrounded their two homes. She had asked him once about it but all she'd gotten was a clipped 'school' and then he wouldn't talk about it any more. She had once over heard her father and Mike's mom talking about the military school that he went to. She guessed that Mike didn't like it there.

A/N Please review I'd really like to know what you thought, just please be gentle I am after all a fan fic writer virgin!

I just had to write this first chapter because I've never seen anything out there about Mike and Sarah when they were young.


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter 2

Own Knight Rider? Come on if I owned Knight Rider then it would be rated M, and Mike would be all mine!

**Switching Places**

Chapter 2

Present day

A bullet slammed into the door jam, mere inches from his face, he ducked low and fired his Glock in the general vicinity of his pursuers, as he made a run for the nearest cover. Dropping behind the large crate just as someone with an automatic rifle peppered the other side of it.

"Kitt! Where is the closest exit?"

"_Michael, the closest exit that remains clear for you is down the flight of stairs behind you to your right. There are reinforcements entering the building now, I suggest you wait no longer where you are." _

Mike couldn't help the roll of his eyes at the calm voice of his partner. Bullets tore into the crate and he could hear more voices calling out from down the hall. Great! Just what he needed more people to shoot at him.

This had seemed like such an easy assignment. Break into an old three-story warehouse and get the microchips that had been stolen by some undergraduate in Biochemistry. They weren't even the real chips, the Professor had suspected that one of his students might be 'dishonest' as he had put it, so had switched them with fake ones. Agent Rivai however felt it important that the fake chips be stolen back before they where discovered and the Professor and his work were targeted again.

He glanced over his shoulder and he could see the doors marked stairs, wasting no more time he raced to the door pushed it open and leaped through, shoving the heavy metal door closed behind him as lead slammed into the brick wall and tinged off the door. A quick glance around showed him several buckets and brooms and mops sitting in the corner, he grabbed a broom and shoved it through the double doors handles.

"_Michael my sensors are picking up activity on the second floor moving towards the stairway you are currently standing in."_

"Great Kitt, any more good news?" Mike said as he started to run down the stairs. He jumped the last two stairs and landed on the second floor landing as the door started to open, he emptied his clip into the door, forcing the would-be attackers back into the hall.

"When you reach the bottom of the stairs take the door to the right that will bring you out into the alley way behind the building. I will meet you there."

Grabbing a hold of the hand rail he slung himself around the pillar in the stair case, he had just reached another turn in the stairs when he heard a crash above him and yells, followed by whistling lead as someone opened up their automatic from above.

The searing heat as one of the bullets burned a groove down his upper arm caused him to instinctively leap more to the right as he continued his race down the stairs. Mike knew in two more strides that his momentum was going to slam him into the wall as the stairs made another turn for the last few steps to the bottom floor. He tried to check his speed but it was too late and he crashed heavily into the wall. His right shoulder absorbing most of the force.

"Hey Traceur! I'm going to kill you!" a voice yelled down the stairs as again bullets peppered around Mike.

Slightly dazed from his impact with the wall he pushed away from it and glanced up to see two men, one with a hand gun, the other with an automatic rifle on the landing above him. At the same instant his left foot hit something slick and slid back behind him, with nothing to stop him, he crashed down the remaining steps, somersaulting several times before the wall at the bottom of the stairs halted his fall.

"_Michael! Michael, can you hear me?" _Kitt's voice was no longer calm as he watched his partner tumble down the stairs and remain still. The AI watched helplessly as heat signatures of the heavily armed men descended the stairs around Mike. The door that the Shelby sat beside was a single door surrounded by a concrete wall, and even if he could blast his way in, Mike lay just on the other side and no matter how many times the AI ran the simulations there was no way of getting in there without bringing the entire wall down on top of him.

"Well, well… lookeee' here! If it isn't the great Mike Traceur!"

Mike heard the voice as if from far away, his mind was foggy and he couldn't quite remember just where he was or why.

**

"Kitt, where is Mike?" The anxious voice of Sarah Graiman filled the Shelby's interior as her worried face materialized on the view screen on the windshield.

"_Mike is still inside the warehouse, however I fear that he has been injured and I am currently working on scenarios that will secure his extraction." _Kitt answered his voice calm as he increased his search parameters for gaining access to the building.

"Injured? How badly? Do you still have contact with him?" Sarah bit out, trying to get control of her emotions. The excessive training that the FBI had put her through kicked in and she said in a much calmer voice. "Kitt, what is your current location?"

"I am currently right outside the exit that Mike was to come out. However he is still inside the warehouse surrounded by armed personnel. My scanners indicate that he has several broken bones and the chances that he will be able to get out on his own are highly unlikely."

Carrie Rivai was coming down the hall to the SSC when the sound of Sarah's excited voice caused her to speed up to see what was going on. She was able to hear most of what the Knight Three Thousand said as she stopped beside Sarah. "Kitt, what are the chances of a successful extrication?"

"_I have just plotted a course to rescue Mike. I am initiating it now!" _The Shelby's engine revved and the tires screamed as the AI executed a tight 180 turn in the narrow alley and raced towards the front of the building.

***

Awareness of where he was, followed hard on the heels of the pain throbbing in his body from the fall down the stairs. A groan escaped his lips as he tried to push himself into a sitting position.

"So we meet again, 'eh Traceur? Hey I'm talking to you!" the stocky dark haired man who had been taunting him during the gunfight said, kicking Mike in the leg as he tried to sit up.

Pain exploded up Mike's leg and black dots danced in front of his eyes as he fought the urge to black out again, or hurl his breakfast. "What the Hell do you want?" Mike was able to ground out through clenched teeth.

The stocky dark haired man grinned evilly as he crouched down in front of Mike so he could look him in the eye. "I don't think you remember me do you? Well hell Traceur! It ain't going to be as much fun killing you now, but I think I can handle it." A couple of the men standing there laughed cruelly.

The sound of squealing tires made several of the armed men look towards the concrete wall.

Mike could guess who had just squealed their tires, but he hadn't heard a thing from Kitt since his fall, he must of lost his ear piece in the fall, along with his gun he could see sitting on the second step ten feet away. It might as well been a hundred, for all the good it was, he couldn't reach it even if he didn't have a broken leg like he suspected. He knew Kitt was going somewhere in a hurry, and Mike trusted his partner. Kitt must have a plan or he would never of left their rendezvous point.

"You! Go see what that was all about!" The stocky dark haired man ordered gesturing towards the door to Mike's right. "Charlie what's your twenty?" The dark haired man barked into his communication headset, then nodded his head at the report he received, before turning his attention back to Mike.

"So Traceur, not so cocky now are you?"

"You know you are starting to piss me off! What the hell do you want?" Mike snarled as he sat looking up at the armed man, his plan was to keep him talking until Kitt did what ever he had planned.

"I can't believe it, you really don't remember do you? Well lookee' here Traceur you see that scar on my face?" The dark haired man leaned down as he tucked his 9mm behind his belt, but not too close, so Mike could better see the long jagged scar that ran from the middle of his forehead across his left eye, and down his check.

Mike just nodded, but his stomach clenched as apprehension set in, he didn't think he wanted to know what the armed thug was going to say.

In a cold voice that dripped with hate the scared man said, "You gave that to me, as well as a few others. Now I think I'm going to pay you back." He reached behind him and drew out a long curved hunting knife. "Traceur, meet my Arkansas toothpick."

At that moment the sound of smashing glass and police sirens shattered the quiet of the warehouse.

The dark haired man with the scar, wheeled and yelled orders for his men to cover their current position, as the sound of more glass smashing, then the unmistakable thump of a helicopter's blades invaded the small confines of the stair well.

"_**This is the FBI come out with your hands up or we will use force!"**_

Mike couldn't believe that the cavalry had arrived so quickly, he was just beginning to grin in relief when the man with the scar turned back to him.

"Come on! We can't be caught now! Stop playing with that grunt, grab the merchadndise and lets haul ass!" One of the men called as the sounds of crashing got closer as well as the police sirens.

Mike's eyes locked with the other man and Mike could see the fury in the other man's eyes, his face twisted in hate. "I guess this isn't over yet Traceur, but I'll give you a little something to help remember me by next time." The knife slashed down towards Mike's head, and being on his butt on the floor all Mike could do was throw up his arm to try to deflect the blade.

"Out this door, they're not here yet!" someone yelled.

The knife hit Mike's forearm and slid down it cutting deep as it went. With the other hand Mike grabbed for the gun that was tucked into the waste band of his attacker. His fingers closed on the weapon as the double doors that lead out of the stairwell into the warehouse smashed inward, filling the space with ear splitting police sirens.

The man with the scar jumped back in surprise then wheeled and raced out the side door that Mike was originally going to use, following the other armed men as they fled the police sirens.

As the door closed behind him the sirens stopped, Mike looked from the side door to the car that had plowed into the double doors a red light tracking back and forth across the wide black grill.

"Kitt?"

"_Michael! Please hurry you need to get in before they come back!" _Kitt's voice was low, as if he were whispering, worry distorting the normally calm voice even more.

"Kitt, but the FBI chopper? They will be here soon…" Mike's voice trailed off as realization hit him, there was no FBI, or no police, only the black car sitting twelve feet from him.

"_Michael, this was the best plan I could come up with to get to you as quickly as possible. Now please, I can come no farther into this stairwell, you are going to have to come the_ _rest of the way to me."_ This time regret colored the words as the AI scanned his partner in detail, making note of the broken tibia and fibula in his right leg, the cut on his arm that was oozing a pile of blood, plus the bruised ribs, split head and a pile of other minor cuts and bruises.

Mike gave his head a little shake as he realized the enormity of the situation. Not only was he going to have to crawl to Kitt somehow, at any moment those thugs could come charging back in here. He checked the 9mm he'd taken off scar man, there was only one round left in the clip. He'd be a sitting duck.

"Kitt, deploy grappling hook!" Mike hissed as he rolled over onto his side, black dots swam in front of his eyes that he was quiet sure had nothing to do with Kitt.

"_Deploying grappling hook,"_ Kitt said as he calculated the lowest force needed to push his grappling hook into the stair well and not imbed it into the stairs. The grappling hook shot out from the front bumper of the Shelby and clinked loudly against the concrete steps, sending up a fine spray of concrete but it didn't stick into the steps.

Mike reached over with his good hand and wrapped the steel cable around his hand. "Ok buddy, pull me out of here."

"_Hang on Michael! My sensors are picking up several people heading back in this direction. They are armed." _Kitt slowly backed out of the stairwell, the two doors had been almost torn off their hinges by the force of the car slamming into them. They only swung part way shut, leaving enough room for the AI to pull Mike out into the main part of the warehouse.

As Mike cleared the double doors he let go of the cable. Kitt quickly reeled in the grappling hook then swung around beside him.

Kitt's driver side door swung open as yells could be heard coming from inside the warehouse.

"Michael, please hurry. My ability to protect you from harm is greatly reduced as long as you are still outside." The AI's voice was slightly pleading as he tracked the three assailants who were making their way towards them through the smashed warehouse.

"Kitt! Do you have Mike yet?" Sarah's voice came over the COM link as her face was once again on the windshield view screen.

"_No, and I fear that I can do no more to aid him." _

Mike had broken out in a cold sweat, just the movement of being pulled across the concrete floor had jarred his leg enough for the light-headedness to return and his lunch threaten to come back up again.

"Kitt? …Sarah?" Mike asked as he wondered if he had hit his head harder then he thought.

"Mike! Oh God Mike! Are you all right?" Sarah said in a panic as she watched the view on the screen switch to another angle to allow her to see Mike lying on the floor. While in another she could see three armed men bearing down on Kitt and Mike.

"Sarah?" Mike said again as he shook his head trying to clear it. The sound of gunfire ringing off Kitt's other side pushed the fog that had reclaimed his mind away, instead leaving the ex-Army Ranger fully aware of the situation.

"Kitt! Shut off communications link!" Mike barked as years of training kicked in, and with a huge effort he pulled himself up onto the sill of the car. His bloody arm slipped on the shinny metal and his head made contact with Kitt's doorsill. Several colorful expletives hissed out between his clenched teeth.

"Communications link disconnected. Michael...?"

"Kitt! Do you think I want Sarah to see if I get hit by one of those stray bullets?" Mike barked as he wedged himself up far enough to grab a hold of Kitt's steering wheel. Sweat poring off his body, he pulled his torso onto the driver's seat. His lungs screamed for air, but every breath sent bands of pain radiating through his bruised chest.

"Michael, I hate to hurry you… but until I can close my door you are still in grave danger from the…"

"God dammit Kitt!" Mike wheezed out, fighting the over whelming pain signals his battered body was pumping to his brain. Blackness again began to encroach on his mind, making it more difficult to think clearly.

"Traceur!" Yelled the scar-faced man, a sadistic smile covering his face.

Mike looked out Kitts passenger side window at the man and his automatic rifle a mere foot from glass. The sound of the bullets striking Kitt as the scar faced man opened fire with the automatic sent a surge of adrenaline into Mike's blood stream. With blatant disregard for the pain it was going to cause, Mike grabbed his broken leg with both hands and lifted it into the car. Dots danced in front of his eyes as he swung his other leg into the Shelby.

As soon as Mike was in, Kitt shut the door, and the AI breathed a sigh of relief. Kitt could tell from his driver's vital signs just what it had cost him to get into the car. As bullets began hitting the drivers side of the Shelby, yells of surprise and anger where mixed in with the gunfire.

"_Michael, I am plotting the most direct route for medical assistance. Initiating Battle_ _Mode_ (passenger restraints activated). _Michael hold on"_ Kitt's wheels howled as he executed a tight 90 degree turn to realign with the path of destruction that he had caused on his way into the ware house.

The gunmen jumped in surprise as the car they were currently peppering with bullets whipped around and transformed into a different shape right before their disbelieving eyes. Cries of frustration rent the air together with the loud whine of the cars engine as it accelerated away from them at an alarming rate of speed.

A/N Please let me know what you think? I asked my significant other to read it but I wouldn't say it was bata'd if anyone wants

the job, hey I'm right here! I've got the next chapter about half way done so it shouldn't be too long of a wait.

Until then

cytpotter


	3. Chapter 3

Me? Own Knight Rider? I wish!

Switching Places

Chapter 3

5 Days Later

"I don't see how we are going to be able to complete another mission for at least another six to eight weeks. What with the injuries that Mike sustained… He's not going to be able to go out in the field again for at least that long."

"Look I can understand your reluctance, but we just don't have that much time. We are going to have to find another driver for KITT. Too much is at stake. It was your idea to reform FLAG, now we have to make this work or we risk losing our support not just with the FBI but also the DOD. They want results."

"Look you just can't 'find another driver'. KITT is not some simple machine who you can stick anyone in the drivers seat! It took several weeks to carefully integrate Mike into KITT's neo processors, then a couple of more weeks to train Mike to drive. It just can not be done Alex."

KITT sat in the special maintenance sling in the SSC listening to Charles Graiman and Alex Torres speak up on the catwalk above him. It had been five days since Mike had been hurt at the ware house, KITT had rushed him to the nearest hospital where he had undergone surgery to set his broken leg, plus a cat scan to check for head trauma and internal injuries.

The AI had refused to leave the hospital until his driver was released. Alex Torres had not been impressed that the Knight Three Thousand had refused the direct order to return to headquarters. However Charles and Sarah had defended the AI's actions, insisting that it was a good idea to have the AI remain at the hospital to monitor Mike's security, in case someone tried to further harm him.

KITT had driven Mike and Sarah back from the hospital almost an hour ago.

"KITT, please open your hood I need to do a diagnostic scan on your systems." Sarah asked as she plugged in several wires to the diagnostic console. "And after that I have a new program I want to up load into your system. I think you might find it useful."

KITT opened his hood as requested, he had been pondering what had happened to Mike and the ramifications of being forced to take on another driver. It didn't sit well with his systems. Yes, he had been created to help mankind, but his first and most deeply programmed instruction was to find Sarah Graiman then go find his driver Mike Traceur.

"KITT is something wrong? You've been awfully quiet since we got back from the hospital." Sarah asked as she finished the diagnostic on one of his systems and started another. She hadn't been able to check on KITT while he had stayed at the hospital with Mike. She had spent a lot of time there herself wondering if Mike was going to be alright, the doctors had kept him heavily sedated for the first couple of days so that he wouldn't move around too much.

"_Yes Sarah there is. I'm not sure how I will feel if I am asked to take on a new driver. I know that there are missions that need to be done, but… Michael is my driver and I wouldn't feel_ _right going out with someone strange."_ KITT answered worry slightly tingeing his words.

"What do you mean a new driver? Surely you don't think you are going to need a new driver? Mike will be up and around in just a couple of weeks." Sarah was surprised by KITT's words, she had been thinking that maybe the AI was still beating himself up over Mike getting hurt at the ware house. It had taken her and Billy several days to calm the AI and insist that he stop analyzing the mission logs for where he had gone wrong.

"Agent Torres and Dr. Graiman were discussing that very possibility sixteen minutes ago. Up on the cat walk."

Sarah glanced up and saw Alex Torres still standing on the catwalk over looking the control center. Her father wasn't there now though. Sarah continued to work on KITT, but now she too was worried about what was going to happen. Could the FBI force KITT to take on another driver? She knew her father would oppose such a thing for he knew as well as she did just how much time and effort it took to ready the Knight Three Thousand for a specific driver. It wasn't just the programming it was introducing the AI to the new idea and allowing KITT to successfully integrate that person into his programs so that he could, in essence trust that individual. Much the same way as a SEAL team trained and bonded to ensure that they could rely on one another. Sarah worried her bottom lip with her teeth as she worked. Just how much push did Alex have over her father? She didn't know for sure.

"_Sarah?"_

"Yes KITT?"

"_I appreciate your concern over my systems but I do not believe that they require two diagnostic scans in one day when the results of the first were negative. Do you?"_

"Oh! KITT, I'm sorry I guess my mind must have wondered." Sarah said a little startled to find that she was indeed starting to repeat the diagnostic tests. She unhooked the diagnostic wires from under the Shelby's hood and returned them to the console allowing KITT to close his hood.

"So is everything alright with KITT? All his systems are at one hundred percent?" Alex Torres asked Sarah as he watched her put the diagnostic implements away after completing the tests she had been doing on the Knight Three Thousand. Alex had been thinking since his conversation with Charles, he knew that the scientist was going to balk at the idea of replacing Traceur, but the FBI didn't have time to wait for the ex-Ranger to heal from his injuries. There were several new developments in the past few days that were going to require the unique abilities of the FLAG organization. Knowing whether the Knight Three Thousand was ready to go should make his job of finding a replacement driver easier.

Sarah looked at the screen on the diagnostic console to check the read-outs, they all showed that KITT was working under optimum standards. "Yes, all KITT's systems are running at one hundred percent." She gave a slight roll of her eyes, as if the Knight Three Thousand would be operating under anything less, she thought sarcastically.

"Excellent," Alex said turning to return to his office, the job of finding a new driver was going to be a difficult one. What with the requirements that the FBI had for security reasons and also the requirements from the FLAG organization itself… the pickings were indeed slim.

"Alex?" Sarah asked as an idea sprang into her mind and out of her mouth before she had a chance to even think about it. "I heard you were thinking of looking for a new driver for KITT. Well…what about me?"

Alex stopped and stared at the computer tech, it was true Sarah had gone through the FBI training and she had gone on a couple of missions with Traceur but…

"I've gone on a couple of missions with Mike, I know the foundations mandates and plus I'm already in KITT's data base for a driver." The more Sarah thought of the idea the more she liked it. KITT wouldn't be forced to have some new strange driver, so that would alleviate his worries. Then when Mike came back there wouldn't be an extra person to worry about exposing the foundation and KITT. It seemed like the perfect fix to her.

Alex ran the possibility through his mind, he had to admit the tech had a good idea but… "I didn't think anyone knew that we were searching for a new driver?" True he had just spoken with Charles about the topic but no one else at the foundation knew to his knowledge. However Sarah's idea did have merit. "If indeed there is a decision made to acquire a replacement driver I will give your suggestion some thought." With that Alex turned and headed back to his office, the idea starting to take root. A smile creased his face, those new developments just might be solvable after all.

Sarah watched as Alex walked out of the SSC towards his office, she took a seat at a near by computer desk and logged into the system to start uploading the new program to KITT.

As she worked she thought of all the pro's and con's of her idea, and by the time the program was finished installing she had come up with a convincing argument for the opposition that she was sure to get from her father. Mike on the other hand? Well she would cross that bridge when she came to it.

The SSC was silent except for the soft hum of the computers and the sound of keys being typed on the keyboard, KITT had listened to Sarah's idea and while it did have a lot of logic in it, his initial program to protect her was causing him some worry. He waited until the new program was safely stored into his mainframe.

"_Sarah?"_ The AI waited until the young woman got up from the computer desk and stood in front of him before continuing. _"Do you think that it is a good idea for you to volunteer to take Michael's place? It is very dangerous, as the need for someone to replace Michael does suggest. _

"KITT I've been in the field before. Besides this way you won't have to worry about some new driver."

"_Yes, that is true Sarah. However I'm not sure that my peace of mind is worth the danger of you becoming my new driver"_

"Oh come on KITT. I thought that you would be happy to have me as your driver, I was thinking of you when I talked to Alex about it." Sarah knew that wasn't exactly the truth but if she couldn't convince KITT that it was a good idea then she didn't stand a chance convincing her father.A small voice in the back of her head asked what about Mike, but she quickly ignored it choosing to plan her course of action with KITT and her father first.

KITT was silent a second as he thought over what Sarah said, true he would love to have the young woman as his new driver but his missions were often very dangerous. "_Sarah, I appreciate your offer but..."_

"KITT, look we don't even know for sure if they are even looking for a temporary driver, so let's just leave it there for now. OK?" Sarah was quick to interrupt the AI, she didn't want him to refuse her idea right now.

"_Ok Sarah."_ KITT agreed wondering just what the young woman had planned, if experience had taught him anything about Sarah Graiman, it was that she was one determined woman. With a sigh the AI settled into hibernation mode, something he hadn't done since before the warehouse mission.

***

The next day Sarah found herself sitting in Alex Torres' office listening as the FBI coordinator with the foundation asked her if she was indeed willing to be KITT's driver, on a mission-to-mission basis until Mike was well enough to return to full duty.

Sarah couldn't believe her ears she hadn't expected this to happen so quickly.

"I'm sorry to rush you in your decision, but I have just received intel on a major security breach at one of our missile locations and the perpetrators have fled into Canada with a missile navigation system. The FBI isn't able to follow them onto foreign soil. If ever there was a need for the foundations unique abilities it is now. What do you say Sarah?" Alex could read the science tech's face like a book he knew he had her hook line and sinker. He didn't let his personal doubts get in the way, he had been ordered to get a new driver for the Knight Three Thousand today or the foundation was going to be terminated. His back was against the wall, and she was the best he could do on such short notice. Sarah had the most credentials plus she was already programmed to drive the car.

The smack of the office door hitting the doorstop caused the FBI coordinator and the young woman to turn towards the door.

"Alex! Just what the hell kind of stunt is this? I told you yesterday that KITT couldn't be assigned a new driver on such short notice! Billy just told me that he had been ordered to commence preparations for a airlift mission…!" Charles Graiman shouted barging into the office. The sight of his daughter sitting in the FBI coordinators office brought him up short. "Sa… Sarah? What are you doing here?"

"Charles please come in and shut the door. Sarah and I were just talking." Alex spoke in a calm voice, but inside he wondered if Charles' bursting onto the scene could of happened at a worse time. To Sarah he asked, "I need your answer Sarah."

Sarah looked from her father to the FBI coordinator, her father was going to kill her! "Yes, Alex of course I'll do it. I shall go now to help Billy prepare for the airlift mission. I'll leave you two to discuss this matter further." Sarah's voice was sweet as she got up and left the office but she didn't miss the look that Alex gave her. She was going to let him tell her father just what she had agreed to do. A mischievous smile curved her lips as she closed the door.

Sarah wasn't disappointed. She hadn't made it half a dozen steps when the sound of angry voices came from the office behind her. With a sigh for the torment that she knew she was going to put her father through Sarah continued to the SSC where indeed there was a flurry of action as Billy and another tech where in the process of readying KITT for the up coming mission.

"Hey Sarah. Did you hear? Agent Torres has supposedly found a replacement driver for Mike." Billy whispered as Sarah stopped beside him.

Sarah smiled at Billy, she could almost guess his reaction when he found out! The poor boy, a field trip to the local watering hole was enough to give him the hives.

"Yeah I heard. So what is left to do? Have you done a complete pre-mission systems check yet?" Sarah asked, as butterflies fluttered in her stomach for the first time, as realization of what she was going to do started to set in. She was going on a mission alone with KITT! She walked over to the Shelby with a nan-omider in her hand inspecting his nano-reinforced shell.

"_Sarah? Agent Torres had Zoe upload the mission files to me. They state that you are indeed the new driver."_ KITT stated his voice noticeably void of emotion_. "In the files it states that this new appointment is a Alfa One encoded order. I am not allowed to disobey such a direct order Sarah."_

Sarah sighed and opened KITT's driver side door. So Alex really hadn't needed her consent, the order had already been made. She sat down in the Shelby, the butterflies were quickly turning into something much bigger that was trying to claw its way out.

"Yeah, I'm your new driver, or temporary driver is more accurate, just until Mike is well enough to return. This is important KITT. If that missile navigation system should fall into the wrong hands… well you know what could happen." Sarah said as much to try to sooth the AI's thought process as her own.

"_Yes Sarah I know. I have already run the simulations of what could happen with the missile navigation systems. As well as the infinite number of things that could happen to you."_

Sarah could see her father walking toward her. "I'll see you at launch prep KITT." Getting out of the Shelby she walked over to her father, a vein was pulsing on his forehead, that was never a good sign. She sighed again, facing armed perpetrators couldn't be any harder then this could it?

An hour later Sarah emerged out of Dr. Charles Graiman's office. She had been right, her father was furious and he had tried everything in the book to make her quit the appointment as KITT's new driver, however temporary it might be. However in the end he had been forced to relent, she was after all an adult. She slowly walked to her sleeping pod to get a few things she would need for the mission her thoughts were filled with the events of the past several hours.

"Hey Sarah!" Mike called as he saw Sarah walk past his sleep pod, he smiled as he watched her jerk to a stop and stare at him in surprise. She had obviously been deep in thought about something. "I thought you and I could check out my new wheels later! What do you say?" Mike grinned wiggling his eyebrows suggestively as he rocked back and forth on the hind wheels of the wheel chair. The doctors had ordered him to use it for a few more days to allow his leg to heal some more before he was allowed to use crutches.

"Ahhh…" Sarah looked at Mike her mind spinning as she tried to come up with a plausible lie. Telling him what she was really up to wasn't an option right now.

She noticed that the bruise over one of his eyes was slowly starting to fade and the cut on his chin was looking almost healed. "I'm sorry Mike, but I ah, have a job that Alex asked me to do. Maybe when I get back?" She tried to put on a smile to reassure him, but she wasn't sure if she pulled it off.

"Oh, well… alright. Billy said that he had scored on a new prototype Xbox360 game. He wants to see if he can beat me at it. I'll see you tomorrow then?"

Sarah nodded and was just about to turn and leave but at the last second she turned back towards him and went over and kissed him on the forehead. "It's so good to see you up and around again. I'll talk to you tomorrow."

Mike smiled as he watched her walk away, appreciating her slim figure from behind. However when she glanced back over her shoulder at him, he saw the apprehension in her eyes causing warning bells go off in his mind. Something was up.

"Mike could you please come to my office I have something I need you to look at," Carrie Ravai's voice spoke urgently to him over the intercom.

"Yeah… sure." He answered back as he wheeled out of his sleeping pod.

He looked down the hall toward the control center, a sense of foreboding settling heavily upon his shoulders as he pushed away from the control center towards Agent Ravai's office.

A/N Well here's another one! Hope you enjoyed it! Poor Sarah, sometimes the choices we have are mere illusions! Let me know what ya think!

Please review! I love to hear what you think of this story. Well until next time (it won't be too long I've already started Chapter 4)

Yours truly, cytpotter


	4. Chapter 4

Little ole' me own Knight Rider? Ha! Ha! Ha! And the moon is made of cheese too!

Switching Places

Chapter 4

The constant drone of the planes engines was just ignorable background noise by now to Sarah. She had been in the air for almost an hour and a half, long enough to have completed the mission briefing with Alex. The mission was straight forward enough; retrieve the stolen missile navigation system, the difficult part started after that. The FBI had been able to pin down the city where the thieves were going to sell it, but after that the information was a little fuzzier. They had the names of a couple of potential buyers, however the FBI didn't want to alert the Canadian authorities with any of this information in case it got out before the navigation system was retrieved.

**

The trepidation that Mike had when he talked with Sarah just wouldn't go away all the time he helped Carrie with some old mission reports. Finally finished with the reports he had slipped out of Carrie's office when she was busy on the phone, paper work wasn't his forte.

As he pushed his wheel chair towards the control center he could hear Billy and Zoe bantering back and forth about which of them had scored the highest on their IQ tests, he smiled, noting KITT wasn't in his maintenance sling. Sarah must've taken the Shelby out for some tests.

"You know Billy you'll get more girls if you let them think _they_ are smarter then you," Mike said deciding not for the first time that the guy was helpless when it came to women.

Billy wheeled around and stared at Mike, guilt quickly taking the place of his surprise. "Oh… ah Mike what… what are you doing here?"

Mike looked at the startled tech in front of him, bells started to go off in his mind, and he looked more closely around the control center. Techs were busy on several computer terminals and other screens showed an array of programs that were running. The main large view screen showed a map of Wisconsin and Michigan along with the Canadian province of Ontario. A small red dot on the screen was traveling northeast past the city of La Crosse.

A cold chill went down his spine as he swung his gaze back towards the two nearest techs his voice devoid of all emotion as he said, "Where is KITT? And why is the control center at Mission Ready Status?"

Billy looked nervously at Zoe, he definitely did not want to be the one to tell Mike, the ex-Ranger scared the tech a little. The murderous look in Mike's eyes right now was doing nothing to alleviate Billy's fear.

"Billy! Tell me what the hell is going on!" Mike's voice was starting to rise.

At that moment the large view screen switched from the map to Sarah's head as she sat in the Shelby.

"Billy? I need you to run a computer simulation of that program we discussed to make sure there aren't any glitches in it before uploading it to KITT," Sarah said as she was looking at KITT's internal systems screen. When Billy didn't answer right away she looked up at the view screen that was connected to the SSC.

"Sarah!What the hell is going on? Where are you? Why do I hear plane engines in the back ground?" Mike fired the questions at a very surprised looking Sarah.

"M…M…. Mike?" Sarah could see Mike sitting in the control center, his face hardening in anger. This was not the way she had planned on telling him, of course she couldn't for the life of her figure out how she was going to tell him, but it certainly wouldn't have been like this. Taking a deep fortifying breath she answered in a much calmer voice then she felt.

"I'm on my way to Canada with KITT to retrieve a missile navigation system. Why? Were you looking for me?" Sarah's voice was sweet as she asked the questions. In for a penny in for a pound she thought.

"On your way to…" Mike's voice trailed off in disbelief. Surely he must have heard her wrong.

"Canada. Toronto to be exact." Sarah said as she saw Mike slowly stand from his wheel chair the anger radiating off him in waves, the look he was sending her would have turned her to stone if that were possible.

"You! Are on your way to Canada! With… KITT?"

"Yes. I'm…" Sarah hesitated for a fraction of a second. "I'm KITT's new driver. Temporarily of course until you are well enough to return."

Mike stood leaning heavily on the edge of the desk for support. He could feel his face draining of color as the cold wave of realization washed over him. Sarah was KITT's new driver?

"Mike I wanted to tell you. Before I left but… I just couldn't, I…"Sarah tried to explain but Mike's yell of outrage cut her off. He seemed to have recovered from his shock anyway.

"Of all the stupid…! Has everyone lost their mind? Who in their right mind would appoint you? A Woman! To be KITT's new driver? Are they insane? You have no training! These people could be killers!" Mike's voice echoed around the SSC in outrage causing some of the tech's to look over at Mike.

"Mike! I am not some helpless woman! I've had the training from the FBI! Plus I'll have KITT with me." Sarah said trying to sound reasonable.

"The FBI training! Ha! What a load of bull! I've got Black Ops training and look what happened to me! You're going to get yourself killed!"

"Mike, please calm down I'm not going to get myself killed." Sarah's patience was starting to slip. This man could be such a hypocrite.

"Calm down? I'll calm down when you are back here!"

_"Michael, I do believe that Sarah has made a very wise suggestion. In your current state…"_

"KITT don't! How could you let Sarah do this? You know how dangerous it can be out there!" Mike raged at the AI.

"_Michael I did not _'let' _Sarah do anything. I received my orders and I am following them."_ Even Mike in his agitated state heard the abdication in KITT's voice.

"Orders. What orders?" Mike demanded.

"_The orders came from the highest level of FLAG. I had no choice but to follow them. I_ _am sorry Michael."_ KITT's voice was full of sorrow for he knew he had again let Michael down.

Sarah's eyes widened as she listened to the AI. Was KITT really against her becoming his driver? She had just assumed that the AI was trying to protect her, she hadn't considered that the AI really didn't want her here.

"It's ok KITT, I know all about orders!" Oh yeah Mike knew about orders! That was one of the reasons that he had left the Army Rangers. Having to obey orders like them or not.

"Yes, well I have my orders too Mike and I plan to see them through. Woman or not!" The coldness in Sarah's voice was unmistakable. "Billy up load that program as soon as you are finished. We are nearing the drop off point. Sarah out." Sarah hadn't been prepared for the pain that Mike's words had inflicted, or KITT's for that matter.

Mike stared at Sarah, there was so much more he wanted to say, now that the anger and fear were starting to subside his practical side was trying to break through.

"KITT!" Sarah's voice was still cold as she prompted the AI to end the communication link.

As Sarah's face disappeared from the view screen Mike felt all the wind go out of his sails. He hadn't stood in almost a week and suddenly his legs gave out on him and he went crashing to the floor of the SSC.

"Mike!" Billy cried as Mike's body crumpled.

Zoe was the first one to get to Mike but she hesitated in helping the downed ex-soldier knowing that he wasn't going to be very receptive of the help he was offered. He was a proud man, and signs of weakness were hard for men like that. She wasn't disappointed as the air turned blue with the colorful words that Mike uttered as Billy and another tech helped him into the wheel chair.

Furious at himself for his feebleness and his inability to do the job assigned to him, Mike wheeled out of the SSC. If anything happened to Sarah because of it, he would never forgive himself.

**

The communication link was closed for only a moment when Alex and a flight tech walked up to the Shelby's driver side door.

"We will be starting our approach in just a few minutes, remember to strap yourself in the car for the approach and until you have safely exited the off ramp. The wheel locks will remain in place until you are given the go from me, when the off ramp touches the runway. This isn't a very long runway so your window to disembark is very narrow. Any questions?" The flight tech asked in a professional voice.

Sarah shook her head, maybe it would be a good idea to let KITT handle this disembarkment.

"Sarah, remember we need to retrieve the navigation system as soon as possible. I'll be returning to the SSC if you need anything, all right? Be careful Charles will never forgive me if something should happen to you." Alex said as the captain informed them to buckle in for their approach.

Sarah nodded her head, she knew her mission.

"KITT activate auto restraints." Sarah's voice was cool, professional the sting from her confrontation with Mike not quite enough to over rule her nerves. She'd be damned however before she let the AI know how much his words had hurt.

"_Auto restraints activated"_ However the coolness in Sarah's voice hadn't gone unnoticed by the AI.

The pitch of the planes engines changed as the aircraft began it's decent.

"KITT you are to take us off this plane then I will take us along our pre arranged route to the border at Sault Ste Marie." Sarah's stomach turned over, she didn't mind flying but landing always had that same stomach rolling effect.

_"Alright Sarah. If you wish I can easily drive to the border also."_

Sarah rolled her eyes, men, they always want to drive. "No, I'd like to drive. I want you to do a mass search for all the likely buyers for the missile navigation system, taking into account their last known location." Sarah already knew the names of the buyers that the FBI suspected were going to be there but it couldn't hurt to do a search of her own. Plus it would give the AI something to do.

In less then ten minutes the flight tech gave them the go ahead and KITT backed out of the airplane onto the runway. The Shelby's tires screamed as it rapidly decelerated, causing the car to swing sideways along the tarmac.

Sarah watched as the planes ramp closed and the huge plane lifted off the ground once again. Leaving her and KITT behind to begin their mission. Taking a hold of the steering wheel Sarah turned the Shelby the rest of the way around and headed back along the runway to the maintenance road and out onto the small highway that ran adjacent the landing strip. She had memorized the first dozen directions from her briefing with Alex.

It had been silent in the Shelby for almost a half hour, the countryside that whipped past was tree lined for the most part. Sarah couldn't help but remember the first solo trip she had with KITT to Las Vegas. It seemed like a lifetime ago.

"_Sarah, Billy just uploaded the program you asked him to and I've stored it in my mainframe. I've also completed the search that you asked me to do and using some additional parameters I've narrowed down the possible list of buyers to fifty-three. If you_ _would like I can display them for you." _KITT had noticed the way that Sarah had been acting since the conversation with Michael. He had been pondering it while doing the search that Sarah had requested, as well as some research of his own, trying to figure out what was bothering Sarah and why.

"I was thinking that once we crossed the border then we could go over the list and maybe narrow it down further."

The AI waited for Sarah to say more but when she didn't he decided to ask her what was wrong. _"Sarah I've noticed that you have been upset ever since you talked to Michael. May I ask what is the matter?"_ It seemed to the AI the logical question.

Sarah felt her blood pressure go up again at the mere mention of Mike, and she had thought she was starting to cool down. She was silent as she tried to think of an answer that would pacify the AI.

"Mike can be a egotistical jerk at times. You have your orders. I have mine, so let's leave it at that!" Sarah groaned inwardly that was not the cool professional reply that she had intended, her emotions had gotten the better of her again.

The only sound in the Shelby was the whine of the tires on the asphalt. A sign on the side of the road announced that the Canadian border was twelve miles away in Sault Ste. Marie.

Sarah slowed the Shelby and pulled over to the side of the road, stopping.

"_Sarah, what is the matter?"_ A bit of worry in the AI's voice, as he scanned all of Sarah's vital signs. His scanners picked up an elevated heart rate and blood pressure, but they weren't able to pick up any cause.

Sarah sat trying desperately to force her feelings into the proverbial box and shut the lid. She opened the door and got out, thinking maybe a little fresh air might help.

"_Sarah?"_ KITT asked. _"Where are you going? Do you need to pee?"_ The AI knew that Michael would stop to do just that at times when they were on the road.

Sarah couldn't help the roll of her eyes and the smile that came to her lips as she was reminded of the time on the way back from Las Vegas when Mike had asked KITT to stop for that very reason. With a heavy sigh she rubbed her hands up over her face, if she didn't clear the air with the AI, how was she going to complete this mission. She began to pace back and forth on the gravel in front of the Shelby.

"KITT, we need to have a talk," Sarah began but the AI interrupted her.

_"There is a incoming communications link from the SSC would you like me to put it on my surface screen?"_

"No KITT. Terminate online feed with the SSC." Sarah did not want anyone ease-dropping on this conversation.

_"Online feed terminated. Sarah why did you have me just cut Dr. Graiman off and go off line?"_

"Because KITT I need some answers and I don't want anyone listening in."

_"Oh. What is it that you need to talk about Sarah? Is your menstrual cycle about to start? I have read that women often experience hormonal imbalances before their cycle is about to…"_

"KITT! No!" Sarah cried flabbergasted that the AI had come up with such an idea. "I need… look KITT I need to know if you don't want me as your driver."

The AI was silent a moment then he said slowly, _"What would give you that idea Sarah?" _

Sarah huffed and shook her head there obviously had to be a 'y' chromosome programmed into the AI somewhere!

"KITT you all but told Mike that you did not want me here. That you are only following orders."

_"But Sarah I am following orders."_

"Look KITT don't play coy with me. I know why Mike is upset, he is an overprotective male chauvinistic jerk. What I need to know is why you don't want me here. Is it because you are programmed to protect me or is it… something else."

The AI was silent as he ran through his programs trying to answer Sarah's question.

_"Sarah I believe the best answer for your question is several answers. Yes I have been programmed to protect you, as well as all human life. It is not a matter of wanting you here or not, I have received my orders and I must follow them."_

"KITT!" Was she ever going to drag the answer out of the AI? " If you hadn't received those orders…?"

_"Then no, Sarah I would not have brought you along. I would be here with a stranger."_

Sarah looked up at the red sky as the sun set behind the tree line.

_"It is not a choice I made Sarah. I have come to care for you and I do not wish for you to be in dangerous situations. I may not be able to protect you, as I wasn't able to protect Michael. As for the orders, I overheard Agent Torres speaking with someone on a secure line and if you had refused to be my new_ _driver and one was not found for this mission to go ahead today then FLAG was going to be terminated, for good."_

Sarah looked at the Shelby in surprise, who was pressuring Alex? And for what purpose? "Who was Alex talking to? And why do they want to terminate FLAG?"

_"I wasn't able to get a fix on the call as it was a very high-tech phone scramble. However I have been running the voice on the phone against my voice recognition database, but I have yet to come up with a name. The FLAG organization however has recently come under suspicion from the highest levels of the DOD."_

Sarah sighed, this was more then she wanted to deal with at the moment, as a hundred other questions began popping into her head.

"_Sarah it is getting dark, would you please get back into the car?" _

"KITT, I guess we don't have any choice at this time except to follow our orders and get on with this mission." Sarah said as she slid into the drivers seat. "However I think that when we get back to the SSC we need to investigate this further."

"_I agree Sarah,"_ KITT said, and after a moments pause the AI continued. _"Sarah, I have thought about your other question and after running it through my microprocessor several times I have come to the decision that it is not that I do not want you here, it is just that I wish it were under safer circumstances." _

Sarah nodded her head that made sense. "Thanks KITT." Sarah said gently. "How long before we reach the Canadian border?"

* * *

A/N Well here is another chapter! Hope you like it. Let me know what you like about the story, or don't like. I'm trying to stay as true to the actual

charactors as possible. I'm not computer knowledgable(?) so if you see that things are named wrong let me know. Thank you for reading, until next time,

cytpotter


	5. Chapter 5

No sorry, I do not own Knight Rider, or Best Western or Wendy's, as if you didn't already know that! :)

Switching Places

Chapter 5

"What is your reason for coming into Canada this evening Miss?" The border patrol officer asked Sarah as he shined his flashlight into the interior of the silver Mustang.

"I have the day off work tomorrow and I was planning on doing some shopping. Get an early start on Christmas you know?" Sarah said with a sexy smile, slowly blinking her eyes as she flirted with the young male officer.

He smiled back obviously liking what he saw, "You have an enjoyable trip Miss. Drive carefully." He said waving her on.

Sarah rolled her eyes as she drove away. Men were so predictable. "KITT online."

There was a soft hum as the AI came back online and his voice modulator lit up.

"How long before we reach Toronto?"

_"It will take 6 hours 9 minutes 12 seconds to reach the city limits going at the posted speed limit barring any traffic anomalies."_

Sarah sighed, and settled herself back in the drivers seat. "KITT you want to drive for awhile?"

_"It would be my pleasure Sarah. There is an in coming communication from Dr. Graiman."_

The view screen on the windshield showed the SSC with Charles Graiman, and Billy and Zoe in the background.

"Sarah you made it over the border alright? Good."

Sarah heard Zoe in the background "I'll say she made it across the border alright, that border guard will never be the same! Hot Momma!"

Sarah rolled her eyes, "Yes Dad, we should be in Toronto in about 6 hours. I'm going to check into the Best Western there and get started early tomorrow morning. I'll check back in with you then."

"All right Sarah. I'll talk to you then, remember do not go offline again you had me worried sick." Charles said as he gave his daughter the stern fatherly look.

"Like I told you, before we came across the border, I had to pee and I didn't want Billy searching camera angles for a look." Sarah said in her sauciest voice. She knew Billy would never do such a thing but it was the best she could come up with when KITT had went back online with the SSC shortly after pulling back onto the road after their talk.

"Sarah, just be careful all right!" Charles said not believing his daughter but knowing it was no good to push the matter right now.

"Sure Dad. Good night." The view screen disappeared plunging the interior of the car into near dark, save for the dashboard lights and KITT's voice modulator light.

_"Sarah, I have a question."_

"Yes KITT what is it?"

"_What did Zoe mean by the border guard will never be the same? Other then the pheromones that you released while you were talking to him, you did nothing to him."_

"She was talking about the way women flirt with a guy to get what they want. Women have been doing it since the beginning of time."

_"Men always respond to this 'flirtation'?"_

"No, not always, but you have to remember men are always on the look out for women. Take Mike for example…"

The next several hours passed in companionable talk as Sarah and the AI discussed the relationships between men and women to great length. They also discussed the potential buyers that KITT's search had turned up and the next steps in their mission.

Sarah found that she couldn't sleep in the moving Shelby, whether it was from nerves about the mission or not she wasn't sure. Alex had told her in the briefing to keep communications to a minimum once they crossed the border. They didn't need someone stumbling onto their link by accident. The Canadian authorities would not be impressed if they found out about their unauthorized mission.

**

Mike sat listening to Charles talk to Sarah just out of sight of the video monitors. He had gone off to his pod to cool off after his talk with Sarah. He had come to the difficult conclusion that there wasn't a damn thing he could do about Sarah being with KITT on this mission. However he could swallow his pride and be here to help her in anyway that he could and he was going to start by being in the control center at the SSC.

"Mike! Sorry, I didn't see you, was there something you wanted to say to Sarah?" Charles Graiman asked as he turned away from the map of Southern Ontario that was now on the main view screen.

"No, I ahh…, was just going to see if Billy wanted a rematch, after I beat him so badly at Halo last time," Mike's cocky grin was enough to get a positive response from Billy, but Mike was watching Charles walk down the corridor towards his office. Obviously Charles had not heard about the earlier confrontation that Mike and Sarah had. Mike wondered what Sarah's father had to say about her going on this mission but his thought's were interrupted by Billy's shout. Mike's quick reflexes saved him from being hit in the head by the video game controller.

The next several hours passed quickly enough as Billy and Mike competed head to head in video games and it was getting close to midnight when Billy finally said he'd had enough and was turning in, all the other tech's had finished their jobs and were also gone leaving Mike alone in the control center.

Mike knew that all the on-call techs were just sleeping in the pods at the SSC and that if anything went wrong the alarms would go off and the techs could be back at their stations in less then a minute. He knew this first hand, it was what happened on many of his missions when there was down time, like now. But knowing it when he was out in the field and in control of the situation and knowing it now when Sarah was out there all alone were two different things.

Mike rolled over to a computer keyboard and pulled up a game of solitaire.

It had been quiet in the control center for some time except for the click of a mouse, the eerie light from the view screens the only source of light.

_"Michael?"_

Mike jerked around to the view screen beside him. "KITT?"

_"I didn't think anyone was still up at the SSC, why are you?"_

"KITT where is Sarah? Is everything all right? I thought you were supposed to restrict communications?" Mike asked, wondering if something was wrong.

_"Sarah is currently in her hotel room sleeping. I often use this time to download my files for back up, as do most corporate computer systems that use this time for upgrades. The vast amount of downloading volume at this hour makes it highly unlikely that anyone will notice."_

"Humph! I often wondered what you were doing while I was sleeping," Mike said a little impressed.

_"Michael, Sarah was very upset after your conversation today."_

"I'll bet she was." Mike said as he remembered how angry Sarah had been.

_"Do you believe that a woman is not capable of performing the duties of this mission?"_

Mike sighed he knew he was about to get a dressing down from his partner, one that he knew he deserved, even though at heart he had just wanted to try to protect Sarah. It just hadn't come out sounding like that. It was the story of his life.

**

The next three days Mike was never far from the control center, he was the first one there in the morning and the last one to leave at night, going to bed only after he had talked to KITT about the mission and how Sarah was doing. This didn't go unnoticed by the FBI coordinator or anyone else for that matter.

Billy had to practically drag Mike away on the fourth day to go to his doctor's appointment for his walking cast and crutches.

Mike was just getting back to the SSC when Sarah was on the main view screen, he could tell that she was in the Shelby but from her tone of voice he knew immediately that something was happening. As he lumbered closer using his new crutches he could hear what she was saying.

"…so they are going to auction off the missile navigation system to the highest bidder at a construction site on the outskirts of Toronto tomorrow morning. As far as I've been able to find out all the buyers are using a middleman so they cannot be caught if this goes south. We will be lucky if we are able to catch the guys who stole the system. We'll never get any of the actual buyers."

"Right now we are more concerned with getting that system back and intact. We can catch the perpetrators another time. Do you have any idea where they are keeping the system right now?" Alex asked.

"No, we haven't been able to locate it but they are going to have to have it at the auction tomorrow. The buyers have requested a test simulation of the system to prove that it will work. Once a positive test is run the bidding will begin. KITT and I believe that the best time to try to get the navigation system back will be after the auction during the exchange between the seller and the buyer's middleman."

"Do you already know at what location the sale is going to take place?" Carrie asked as she glanced at Alex to see what his take on this idea was.

_"No but I have been able to pin it down to three possible locations, taking into account isolation, access roads and the least likely to draw unwanted_ _attention. I_ _have already hacked and downloaded the newest schematics on each location."_ Kitt said.

Sarah nodded, as did Alex and Carrie.

"I think if I go in as a middleman for a buyer I should be able to grab the navigation system when KITT causes a diversion during the exchange." Sarah said but she didn't sound all that confident in the plan.

"Sarah, please be careful. These men are going to be armed and dangerous," Charles said, his voice thick with concern.

"I will Dad. I will contact you tomorrow as soon as I know the exact time and location of the auction." Sarah's face disappeared off the screen to be replaced by a map of Toronto.

**

Sarah stood on the ground floor of a large office building that was under construction waiting to see if the bid would be raised past the thirty-six million that it was at. She hadn't been able to wear the earwig but KITT was still in contact with her through her cell phone. The middlemen needed cell phones to let the actual buyers know if the system worked and how much it was going for, so they could bid higher if they wanted.

"Sold to buyer number eight for thirty-six million dollars!" The man who had auctioned off the missile navigation system announced. The buyer walked towards the table at the front of the sectioned off area that they stood in, the other people in the area starting to mill about, some leaving while others began talking to one another.

Sarah inched her way toward the table where the brief case with the missile navigation system sat. Her phone rang and she held it up to her ear.

_"Sarah are you ready?"_

Sarah nodded her head "Ahh haa" Was all she could push out past her tight throat, as her heart pounded in her ears.

_"On the count of three. One. Two. Three."_

KITT's scanners had pin pointed the position of everyone inside the building and he had already picked out his target and tagged it so that his missiles caused as little harm to the structure as possible but still achieve the desired effect. In attack mode he fired both his smart missiles and proceeded into the building in their wake. The AI's scanners tracked the two missiles as they hit their targets, his scanners also showed him Sarah as she raced to the table and grabbed the brief case in the confusion of the explosions.

The AI arrived on the scene just seconds after Sarah had retrieved the briefcase, he slid to a stop beside her and opened his driver side door. _"Get in Sarah."_

Sarah threw the briefcase onto the passenger seat and jumped into the car as shouts and gunfire rang out. All the people in attendance had been checked for weapons or electronic devises other then their cell phones, and like a coat check had been required to leave them at the check-in point. Obviously some of the middlemen and their henchmen had made it to their weapons.

"KITT, get us out of here!" Sarah cried as bullets peppered the exterior of the car.

_"Right away Sarah.(Passenger restraints activated)"_ Said the AI as he swung his hind end around, tires howling and accelerated back out of the building. _"The Canadian authorities have been alerted to the situation and are on their way. I have plotted our escape route with that information in mind. I have an incoming message from the SSC."_ The AI's calm voice was not reflecting at all, the chaos going on outside the speeding car.

"Sarah! Do you have the navigation system?" Alex asked in an anxious voice as his face appeared on the windshield view screen.

"Yes. KITT is trying to get us away from here, the plan worked, the navigation system is fully intact." Sarah's voice pitch wavering as KITT executed hairpin turns at high speed.

_"Sarah the concern in your voice is unwarranted, I have plotted the best possible escape route. There is nothing to worry about."_

"KITT! I'll worry if I waaant!" Sarah screamed as KITT hit his turbo boosters and flew over a cement barrier and onto the highway amidst several vehicles. Landing smoothly as the AI adjusted his shocks to absorb the crushing weight of the landing car.

Sarah gasped in another breath as KITT rapidly accelerated leaving the cars that he had landed amongst behind.

"Hey pal, maybe next time you should warn Sarah before you go jumping over concrete barriers." Mike said as he grinned at Sarah, he stood beside Alex leaning on his crutches.

_"Sarah, I am sorry if I scared you. I will warn you in the future before I engage my turbo boosters."_

Sarah tried to glare at Mike for his comment but she was afraid she wasn't very successful. Her hand trembled slightly as she reached over to the briefcase to open it and verify with the SSC that the missile navigation system was indeed intact and hadn't been tampered with. "KITT activate USB cable."

Mike had watched the whole thing from KITT's video feed with the SSC. He'd never been more scared in his life. He didn't think anyone else had picked up the quiver in his voice when he'd made that remark but he sure knew it had been there!

_"In the next camera blackout spot I will transform so that the authorities will not be able to identify me."_

"Excellent work KITT and Sarah," Alex said as Billy verified that they indeed had succeeded and retrieved the missile navigation system and that it was fully intact. "Return to the rendezvous point, the plane will meet you there to bring you back home."

"Are you sure you're alright Sarah?" Charles asked as he looked at his daughter on the view screen, she looked a little white to him.

"Yes Dad. I'm fine. I'll see back at the SSC tomorrow." Sarah smiled at her father, her heart rate had returned to normal now that KITT was driving as a car should. Realization that she had in fact completed her first mission, alone, started to set in.

"All right Sarah, I'll see you tomorrow. " Charles said.

"Good work Sarah." Mike said his voice sincere. They really hadn't talked much since their fight at the beginning of the mission. Mike didn't want to say something to upset her again, and Sarah hadn't seemed ready to forgive him.

Sarah looked at the man as he stood leaning heavily on his crutches his eyes speaking volumes. Her heart gave a lurch, she really had been horrible to him these past few days by ignoring him.

"I'll see you tomorrow Mike," she said with a gentle smile, she didn't look away from him until the view screen winked out and she was again gazing at the highway ahead.

The AI was silent but his scanners hadn't missed the elevation in Sarah's heart rate and the release of a particular composition of pheromones that were reserved for Michael alone.

**

As the silver Mustang sped along the highway Sarah relaxed in the driver's seat, she had gone through a Wendy's drive- thru and had enjoyed her hamburger and fries. The sound of music filled the car and Sarah was quite content. The mission had been a success, she had heard on the news that the police had made numerous arrests following a large explosion at a construction site. Sarah had smiled. And there was no mention of either her or KITT, so all in all a job well done.

"KITT how long until we reach the Canadian border?"

_"We should reach the border in forty five minutes at our current rate of speed. Then in one hour twenty minutes we should reach our rendezvous point."_

Sarah grinned, "What no seconds?" She jested.

_"I have found that when asking for time of arrival humans tend not to like it broken down past the minutes. Is this deduction wrong?_

"No KITT your deduction is correct." Sarah said laughing as an old song that she loved began playing, and Sarah started to sing along with it.

"Oh man KITT what kind of torture is Sarah putting you through anyway?" Mike interrupted as he grinned at Sarah, he'd told her before that she couldn't carry a tune in a bucket.

_"I do not find Sarah's singing voice any more disturbing then your yelling when your favorite team is losing."_ KITT's voice was a little smug.

Sarah stopped singing and laughed at the AI's words then when she saw Mike's face she laughed even harder.

"Hey pal, you know I'll tell Katie and Lisa that you've been cheating on them." Mike said in mock anger as he shook his finger at the view screen.

_"Please Michael, you know as well as I do that your threats are harmless."_ The AI said. _"Besides the things I could tell Sarah far out weigh that threat. Like the time you…"_

"Hey! KITT! What happens between guys stays between…" Mike's voice trailed off as he realized what he was saying wasn't coming out right.

Sarah was still laughing, as she held her side where it hurt. Tears rolled down her cheeks

As soon as she was able to get control of herself she said. "Don't worry Mike I'll take my pink fuzzy dice down when I get back to the SSC. So did you want something or were you just trying to catch me singing?"

_"Sarah? There are no pink fuzzy dice for you to take down."_

"Later KITT," Sarah whispered so the AI could hear but Mike couldn't.

"I just was thinking that when you get back to the SSC that we could do something." Mike flashed her a devilish smile.

"Oh and what were you thinking of Mr. Knight?" Sarah asked with a suggestive smile.

Mike felt his heart do a little stutter step. Sarah was flirting with him!

"Well… why don't I see what movie I can find and we'll go to the drive-in SSC style. You can show me those pink fuzzy dice." Mike grinned, it felt so right, this easy flirting that the two of them usually shared.

"Oh a movie and popcorn. How exciting." Sarah teased. "I suppose an out of work bum like you will expect me to pick you up in my car?" Sarah said as she ran her hand over the steering wheel so Mike could see.

_"Need I remind you that I am the property of Knight Industries?"_ The AI asked trying his best to tease them also.

"Don't worry pal, I've already set it up so you will have two fine lady friends." Mike said as he laughed. "So it's a date then?"

"All right, but just remember I don't like horror flicks."

"But m'lady, I, Sir Knight shall be there to protect you!" Mike said in his most chivalrous voice.

Sarah just rolled her eyes.

* * *

A/N Well here we are again at the end of another chapter. And I have to take this time right now to thank the wonderful, patient and incredably fast,

anyabar1987, my bata for this story. Without her incredible help this story would never have progressed this far this fast! Thank you! :)

Well hope you liked it! Let me know what you thought I love to hear from you, the readers, it does help my fingers type faster when I get reviews!

However that being said I'm not sure if I'm going to be able to keep updating as often as I have been. My real life, the one where I earn$ is getting

busy with Christmas fast approaching, but I will do my best to update as often as possible!

Until next time, cytpotter


	6. Chapter 6

Come on now, me own Knight Rider? What would I do with a Shelby in the snow? Of course if it were storming and I was with Mike...

Nahh this is a teen rated fic!

Well hope you enjoy!

Switching Places

Chapter 6

The big planes ramp had barely touched the ground when the black Shelby raced up the ramp and stopped inside the cargo hold. The ramp closed and the planes engines roared hurtling the huge plane down the runway and up into the air again.

Sarah waited until the flight tech gave her the signal before she got out of the Shelby, she had completed her first mission and it had been a success. Plus she had a movie date with Mike! Sarah smiled, humming to herself, she started a field diagnostic scan on KITT's systems, it was a routine test that she had preformed many other times on the cargo plane when she had accompanied Mike on his missions.

"_Sarah what is the purpose of humming? I have noticed that you have done it several times on the way to our rendezvous point. Does it have something to do with Michael asking you to watch a movie with him?" _The AI asked puzzled over this new human trait. Neither Michael nor Dr. Graiman had ever vibrated their vocal cords like this to make pleasing sounds.

Sarah glanced up from the computer console where she sat startled by the AI's question. "I didn't realize I was humming." Sarah said as she tried to remember what she had been humming, and then she remembered. "My mother used to hum to me when I was a little girl, and I woke up from a bad dream. She would sit with me on her lap in the old rocking chair and hum to me until I fell back to sleep. She would also hum when her and I used to make cookies together. She always hummed the same tune, I don't even know what it is called." Sarah smiled a sad smile as she talked.

"_So the purpose of humming is to comfort someone? Then why are you humming now Sarah, are you sad?" _The AI wasn't sure if he would ever understand human emotion, he had thought the young woman was happy, that was what his biometric scanners had told him, anyway.

Sarah smiled at the AI as she replied. "No, that is not the only reason people hum. Yes sometimes my Mother hummed to me to cheer me up but she sometimes hummed because she was happy. Like when we were making cookies together or when she was working in her flower garden. I think sometimes children pick up habits from their parents even if they don't realize they are doing it. Like now, I didn't even realize I had been humming until you said so."

The AI was silent for a moment as he run this data through his microprocessor. "_So you_ _are humming because you are happy?"_ He asked to be sure he understood her.

"Yes KITT I'm happy," the smile clearly evident in her voice.

**

"Colonel you have a call on line two." A young man said briskly.

"All right Murphy." The Colonel said as he picked up the phone, punching the number to forward the call through. "Hancock here."

"Sir, this is Fletcher. I wasn't able to buy the package. It went for thirty-six mill. We were not able to grab the package afterwards either. The same black car that was at the warehouse two weeks ago showed up and took the package before we were able to get to it."

"The same black car? You are sure of this?" The Colonel asked. "Who was driving it?"

"No idea, some chick grabbed the package then hopped into the car. We peppered the thing but we didn't even dent it. I can't imagine there being two cars like that out there. So now what?"

"Come on home." The Colonel said, then he hung up the phone and leaned back in his chair as he absently rubbed his thumb over the scar on his cheek.

**

Mike smiled as he put the movie he had picked out on the nightstand in his sleeping pod. It was a comedy. He had been tempted to pick out a horror but he changed his mind at the last minute when he remembered how scared Sarah had been the last time he had made her watch one. Of course they had only been twelve at the time but he'd had to walk her home for the rest of the summer if it was anywhere near dark.

The sound of the alarm going off in the control center startled him out of his thoughts. As fast as he could on his crutches he raced towards the control center thoughts of a movie gone from his mind.

"Billy we need those coordinates. Zoe I need you to get me the CIA on the phone and verify this. Carrie we are going to need the location of the nearest landing strip."

Alex ordered as a fuzzy picture of a man showed on the main screen repeating the same message.

"Cover blown, need immediate extraction, code name Eagle Feather, locator beacon on."

Mike stopped beside Alex. He immediately recognized that this was an encrypted message from some government operative in real trouble.

"His coordinates indicate that he's just outside of Caracol, Mexico. Which is about ten miles south of the border." Billy said as he put up a display of the exact location on one of the monitors.

"The CIA confirms that this is their man and they confirm the code name also. The nearest extraction team is Seattle." Zoe replied as she continued to hold the phone waiting for Alex's next orders.

"Tell them we already have a bird in the air, ETA one hour." Alex said turning to Carrie. "Where's our nearest landing strip? Relay it to our bird."

Carrie nodded as she spoke into a headset relaying the new coordinates to the pilot.

Mike stiffened as he realized that Alex was going to send Sarah on another mission.

"Billy open a chat line with Sarah."

"Belay that order Billy!" Mike snapped as he rounded on Alex, standing up straight, instead of leaning on his crutches, he was almost a head taller then the FBI agent.

"Mike! What do you think you are doing? You have no authority to override me." Alex snapped back his eyes narrowing at the aggressive stance the ex-soldier was displaying.

"You can not send Sarah on another mission, she…" Mike began but Alex cut him off.

"I can and I will. This is an emergency extraction and if you don't stand down now I will have you removed from the SSC!" Alex ordered, as he went to step by Mike.

"Mike! That is enough!" Charles yelled as Mike made a move to stop the FBI coordinator from going by him.

"Billy! Chat line now!" Alex commanded as he sent a hard look at Mike.

Sarah's face appeared on the main view screen looking a little confused. "What's going on? Why has the plane changed course? I thought I was coming back to the SSC?"

"We have an emergency extraction of a CIA agent ten miles south of the Mexican border, Billy's sending you the file now. SSC out." Alex cut the transmission short before Mike could do something else. "Knight! My office now!" The FBI coordinator snapped as he spun on his heel and headed for his office.

Charles had been very disturbed when he came to the control center and saw Mike challenging Alex. His yell to the younger man had been out of fear that Mike might do something stupid. It wasn't until after, he realized that Mike was upset about a new mission for Sarah and not something from his past… Charles shuddered to think what Mike would do when he found out about that. He had tried to warn Alex but the FBI agent wouldn't listen to him. Charles sighed and turned to follow Alex to his office, maybe he had better be there to try to keep the peace.

Mike was angry at Alex for sending Sarah on another mission, she had barely escaped the last one without getting shot, now Alex was sending her to Mexico after some supposed CIA agent. With an angry sigh he turned to follow Alex and Charles to the coordinators office, Billy and Zoe had sent him apologetic looks before he turned away. Mike however didn't get two steps before he felt the cell phone in his pocket vibrate, someone had just sent him a text message, he waited until he was in the hallway before he took the cell phone out to look at it. Leaning his shoulder against the wall to shield the phone from the security cameras he checked the message.

'What's going on? Private talk. My Pod. Raphael. MSK.'

Mike couldn't help the smile that came to his face. MSK, Moon Shine Kid.

**flash back**

"But Mike if we are going to be cowboys we need names!" ten year old Sarah said as she played with the toy six shooter that she had talked her mother into buying on their last shopping trip.

"But Moonshine Kid? You do know what moonshine is, don't you? I'm going to be Billy the Kid, the fastest, badest gun in the west!" eleven year old Mike said as he too played with a toy six shooter, he had gotten his toy gun without his mother's knowledge.

"Not moonshine, Moon Shine you know, like when the moon is shining? That is when we can rob the banks! That way nobody will be around to get hurt." Sarah replied as if that should have been obvious.

"Well Moon Shine Kid, come on we have to make it to our bad guy hideout before eleven so we can plan our bank job and be done in time to watch Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles at your place." Mike called as he headed for their favorite tree house.

**end flash back**

'OK. ASAP. Meeting first. BTK'

Mike pushed send on the cell phone and shoved off the wall and continued down the corridor, his crutches making a weird third thump to his foot steps. Raphael. Mike shook his head as he grinned at Sarah's password, on the outside she was this sophisticated, professional woman, but on the inside she was still the girl he knew growing up. He was still reminiscing when he got to Alex's office but one look at the FBI coordinators face and all pleasant thoughts of Sarah and his childhood fled, replaced by those of a trained soldier.

Alex watched the amused smile disappear off Mike's face to be replaced by the schooled features and cold eyes of a trained professional. He wondered briefly what had distracted Knight on his way to this office but Charles' greeting to the young man brought back the business at hand.

"Hey Mike you are getting around on those crutches very well." Charles smiled, he wanted to diffuse this situation if he could.

"Mike, shut the door." Alex commanded. When the door was shut he continued. "You seem to have a problem with my authority. I am the FBI coordinator here and I will not stand for you questioning my orders or trying to override them. If you have a problem with my orders you come see me in private about it. You do not contradict my command in the control center or anywhere else! Do I make myself clear?"

"Yes sir!" Mike said with just enough slur on the words to make it clear he was not scared or whipped into line. He had been a soldier long enough to know just how far he could push back.

Alex's eyes narrowed and his face-hardened in anger. "Do you have a problem with my orders Knight?"

The soldier in Mike bit back the snide remark that was on the tip of his tongue. He kept his silence.

"I asked you a question. You didn't seem to have any trouble shooting your mouth off a few minutes ago!" Alex demanded as he fought to keep a tight rein on his sudden flare of anger.

Mike's eyes narrowed, and his nostrils flared, but he couldn't keep quiet any longer. Old habits died hard. "Permission to speak freely, sir!"

"We aren't in the army here!" Alex snapped.

"Yeah well you could of fooled me! And yeah, I have a problem with your orders. Especially the ones that send Sarah across the border into Mexico after some agent with a blown cover! You have no idea what kind of trap could be waiting there for her!" Mike snarled. Good thing this wasn't the army he'd get his ass chewed off for saying that.

"Sarah is a trained field agent, just like yourself…" Alex began but Mike cut him off.

"Like hell she is! She only has the training that the FBI…" Mike snapped out before he was cut off.

"Mike! Enough!" Charles cut in. He'd heard enough, Mike was going to say something soon that he would later regret. "Mike I don't like Sarah being out in the field any more then you do but at the moment there isn't a thing we can do about it. There are circumstances beyond our control that require the foundation to keep fighting the good fight until you are well enough to go back out there yourself." Charles pleaded with Mike to listen and back down from this fight. It was one he couldn't win. "Now you have made your concerns known, please leave it at that."

Mike was surprised to hear this coming from Sarah's father, he'd have bet money that Charles would have sided with him in this, considering the way he had yelled at Mike for putting Sarah in danger in the past.

Alex took a deep breath and waited to see what Knight would do.

After a tense minute Mike gave a jerky nod of his head and replied in a clipped voice, "All right Charles. I'll leave it at that." Mike sent a glare at the FBI coordinator then he turned and walked out of the office on his crutches, but before he shut the office door he looked Charles in the eye and said in the same clipped tone, "For now!"

Mike stopped outside the closed door, his mind was racing, and cool thought was trying to over come hot anger. There were things that were said in there that he needed to think about. First and foremost was why hadn't Charles backed him. His mind whirling, he stopped in front of Sarah's sleeping pod said the password and entered. Sarah was waiting on the view screen.

Sarah took one look at Mike and knew something had happened in the meeting. "Mike what's wrong? What's going on?" Sarah asked in quick succession, concern evident in her voice.

Mike drew in a deep breath, just how much should he tell Sarah?

"_Michael, Billy opened an audio line to me and Sarah, we heard the altercation between you and Agent Torres. Are you again questioning Sarah's ability to operate in the field?"_ The AI's voice held the slightest hint of censure.

"What? KITT no. Look, I just lost my cool. I… I just wanted you guys to come home." Mike said rubbing an agitated hand over his face, he didn't need to worry Sarah until he knew what was going on for sure. The words from the meeting were still haunting him.

Sarah knew Mike was trying to shut her out, something had happened and he didn't want to tell her, she was sure of it. "Mike, come on! I'm not stupid what is going on? What did Alex say to you to bother you like this?"

"It wasn'… Look Sarah I know you are going to think that I'm just saying this because I don't want you out there, but it's not." He drew in another deep breath and continued. "Sarah there is something weird going on about your appointment as KITT's new driver. I…" Sarah cut off Mike.

"I know Mike. KITT and I have known for awhile now that something is up but we haven't been able to look into it further while we are still out here in the field." Sarah then told Mike all that KITT had told her before she started her first mission.

Mike looked at Sarah, his voice deadly serious as he said, "If someone is pulling Torres' strings then you and KITT are in more danger then the missions you are on."

Sarah looked into Mike's eyes and seen the fear that was in them, she smiled at Mike and tried to ease his worry by jokingly saying. "Then all KITT and I have to do is keep doing our missions until you are well enough to return."

Mike forced a smile, "Yeah that's all, should be easy right?"

**

As the days turned into weeks Sarah and KITT continued with a variety of missions, they weren't always successful but they continued to be lucky and neither of them was seriously hurt. They made it back to the SSC most of the time once they completed a mission, much to Mike and Charles' relief. Mike and Sarah were able to have their movie night. That ended with a goodnight kiss when Mike walked Sarah to her sleeping pod.

Mike dug into everywhere he could think of, to try and find out more about this mystery voice KITT had heard and who it might belong to, but he kept running into dead ends. When he wasn't investigating the mystery voice, he was helping out in the control center with missions. Plus he was working out in the gym so when his cast came off he'd just have to worry about strengthen that leg.

All this time KITT was learning what it was like to work first hand with a woman instead of a man. The differences intrigued the AI. Like when they were on the road, when Mike fell asleep he had no trouble being woke up to a chat line with the SSC. However if Sarah fell asleep then she always wanted to be awakened and given a few minutes to brush her hair and wash her face before she would talk to the SSC. The AI learned the hard way not to stray from that sequence when Sarah almost put them over an embankment once when he had put the SSC up on the windshield view screen as soon as he had woke her up. Then there was the difference in how they handled a mission, Mike was ready and eager to take on anything head on, asking a minimal amount of questions. Sarah on the other hand was just as willing, but she liked to think over a situation and ask lots of questions as well as the AI's opinion.

**

"So the doctors say that if you pass your physical next week you can return to active duty?" Sarah asked as she popped some more popcorn into her mouth.

"Yup! With the cast off I've started a full work out again so I should pass the physical no problem." Mike replied as he too munched on popcorn as he watched the movie that was playing on KITT's windshield view screen. Sarah had picked the movie out this time, Robin Hood, Prince of Thieves. It wasn't one he'd have picked out but at least it wasn't a total chick flick!

The two of them were enjoying the cozy feel of sitting in the near dark inside the Shelby. It was some time before either spoke again.

"Your leg isn't bothering you anymore? Billy told me just the other day that you had to quit half way through your workout because it was hurting?" Sarah asked looking over at Mike. The flickering light inside the Shelby made it difficult to read his expression.

Mike hesitated a moment as he made a mental note to speak to Billy about telling Sarah those things. "It bothers me a bit if I push it too much but other then that I'm fine." Mike smiled at Sarah as the movie ended and the credits started, the song from the movie playing softly in the background. Mike reached over and picked up a piece of popcorn that had fallen on Sarah's pretty top, blemishing the olive color that suited her so well, lifting it up he placed it in her mouth. His eyes never left hers as he leaned in closer.

Sarah's breath caught, as she chewed the piece of popcorn slowly, Mike's fingers lingering on her chin. She could smell his aftershave and it was almost intoxicating, his eyes mesmerizing her.

Slowly he tipped her chin as he inched closer to her lips. Her perfume was assaulting his senses, as a fire began to snake thru his veins.

Sarah licked her suddenly dry lips, as heat flared along her skin.

He closed his eyes and touched his lips to hers tentatively, gently as if they would break.

Sarah's hand found it's way to Mike's chest and settled over the heavy beat of his heart.

Mike slid his tongue along her bottom lip and slowly Sarah parted her lips to allow him entrance.

_"Michael your hormone and pheromone levels are raising dramatically,"_

Sarah and Mike sprang apart.

"KITT!" Mike growled.

"_causing numerous physical changes in your body,"_

"KITT!" Sarah cried

"_As is yours Sarah. Does kissing alone cause these physical changes in your bodies?"_ KITT asked.

"I've told you before. Way too personal!" Mike said, his voice still thick with desire.

Sarah's heart was still hammering in her chest but for a totally different reason now. "KITT, you need to stop that!"

"_But Sarah you have told me on our missions that if I had a question all I had to do was ask it."_ The AI's voice was almost too innocent.

Sarah tried to explain to KITT proper personal boundaries as Mike got out of the car.

"KITT, if you were a man. I'd hit you right now." Mike growled quietly when he got out of the Shelby, to go open Sarah's door.

The AI sighed. Humans were such puzzles.

* * *

A/N Poor KITT will he ever learn? I hope not he just makes so many situations fun! Well here you go Chapter 6! Hope you liked it! If you did don't forget

to review. Even if you didn't I'd love to hear what you think needs improving! Thanks again to anyabar1987 for bataing this for me! Just to tease you poor

folk, I've got the next chapter written:) I'll try to post asap! Until next time, cytpotter


	7. Chapter 7

Well by now you should know I don't own Knight Rider, but if I did maybe I'd find myself under the mistletoe! Looks around to see if I can spot that elusive

green twig! :)

Switching Places

Chapter 7

Explosions rocked the ground and small arms fire sounded all around their current position.

"Squad Leader do you copy?" a voice crackled over the radio.

"This is Squad Leader, we are taking heavy fire. Request immediate air support." Mike yelled into the radio, as he signaled his men to take cover behind an armored personnel carrier lying on its side.

"Squad Leader, have you secured the goose?" the voice asked.

"Negative! It was an ambush! The goose is still loose." Mike barked back as a mortar shell landed on the other side of their cover, the force of the explosion rocked the APC almost knocking it over on top of Mike and his team.

Debris showered down on them as the radio crackled again. "Squad Leader be advised of incoming air support. ETA four minutes. Tag known targets."

"Lieutenant Look!" one of the soldiers yelled pointing to a crumbling building to their left. A man's blond head was just visible from the window. It was their mission target.

Mike nodded. "Jones you and Moose take the door to the right. Collins and I will take the far window. Larson you give us cover fire!"

Mike raced towards the window dodging left and right as bullets tore into the ground around him, without hesitating he leapt through the window and rolled coming up with his finger on the trigger of his gun. The room was empty.

Mike felt the explosion as much as heard it as the other side of the building exploded sending him flying across the room. Dots danced before his eyes, with a shake of his head he staggered onto his feet. Underneath a piece of the wall lay what was left of the blond man he'd seen in the window, their mission had been to bring him in for questioning about selling American weapons to local terrorist groups.

A moan made Mike spin around to see Collins lying under a pile of debris; blood was seeping out around a massive beam and soaking into the earthen floor. Movement in Mike's peripheral vision and he dropped instinctively into a crouch causing the momentum of his attacker to carry him up and over Mike.

Mike grabbed the first thing he seen and swung it at his attackers head. The metal bar sliced the dark haired man's face open from the middle of his forehead across his left eye and down his cheek.

Mike sat up in bed, his body covered in a cold sweat. He had been dreaming, or had he? He swung his legs off the bed and onto the floor, his head in his hands as he struggled to remember what he'd been dreaming about as he took in great breaths of air. His heart was pounding as if he had been in the dream.

"_Michael are you alright? My scanners show your heart rate and_ _adrenaline levels are substantially elevated. Is every thing alright?"_ The AI asked from his maintenance sling in the SSC. He would often monitor his driver's vital signs when they were sleeping; it reassured the AI's program that said to protect his drivers. It didn't matter to the AI that he now had two drivers to monitor.

The images from his dream were slipping through his fingers like smoke, sliding back into the black hole in his memory from where it had come.

"_Michael?" _

"Yeah KITT I'm alright." Mike said as he pushed up off the bed, wiping the sweat from his eyes. He looked into the mirror on the wall as the lights automatically came on. The face looking back at him was pale, his hair and t-shirt was plastered to his body with sweat. Things he could no longer remember haunted the look in the eyes that were reflected in the mirror.

**

"Hey Mike! We missed you at the mission briefing this morning, where were you?" Sarah asked as she met Mike coming out of the men's washroom, she noticed he looked rather pale. "You don't look so good, are you alright?"

Mike looked over at Sarah's worried face and sighed mentally, you couldn't tell anyone else something that you didn't even remember yourself. "Yeah I'm fine, I just didn't sleep very well last night. You say you have a new mission? What's it about? When do you leave?" Mike asked changing the subject as Sarah and him walked into the control center.

Sarah knew Mike was evading her question but she answered his questions. "A shipment containing a Knight Industries prototype weapon has gone missing on it's way to a test range in New Mexico. A locator beacon hidden in the shipment puts it somewhere in the San Andres Mountains, however someone is trying to jam the signal and it's exact location is unknown. The foundation believes that with KITT's sensors, we will be able to pin point it's location more accurately once we are closer. I leave within the hour."

"Yes and I'm glad to say that it should be your last, as I'm sure Mike will be good to go by then. Right Mike?" Charles asked as he stood beside the Shelby helping with the pre-launch prep, as he had overheard the last of the conversation.

"Dad! I'm a grown woman, will you stop worrying!" Sarah said exasperated by her fathers constant worrying.

"I'll be good to go by then Charles don't worry." Mike said with a grin as he turned and winked at Sarah. He loved to tease her if he could.

"Sarah I've downloaded the spec's on the Knight Industries prototype, and I've also included a itemized list of what else was on the truck with it." Billy said as he glanced up from his computer screen.

"Thanks Billy." Sarah said. She could feel the pre-mission butterflies set in. They weren't as bad as her first mission, but she still got them a little bit.

_"I've plotted the most direct route for us to take to reach Las Cruces where we can start the search. Our estimated time of travel at top speed is nine hours twenty five_ _minutes, baring any unforeseen traffic anomalies."_ KITT said as he ran the last of his pre-launch diagnostics. He was ready to go.

"Nine hours? KITT you did take into account pit stops along the way didn't you?" Sarah asked as she thought about the long road trip ahead.

_"Yes Sarah. I've allowed for one, two minute thirty second pit stop every three hours. I asked Zoe to pack you a cooler of food and drink so we will not be required to stop for that."_ The AI said pleased that he had thought of all his driver's requirements for the upcoming trip.

Sarah's jaw dropped and she stared at the Shelby in surprise.

Mike laughed and couldn't help saying, "Wow, KITT you've thought of everything!"

_"Thank you Michael."_

**

Sarah had been on the road for over six hours. She had discussed the up coming mission in detail with KITT and felt that they had researched everything they could and had a good plan of action to start with. She had even watched the movie that KITT had downloaded to watch as they traveled, Scary Movie 4. When she asked why he had picked that particular movie KITT had put Mike on the windshield view screen. Mike had laughed and said that he wanted to start getting KITT used to being a man's car again.

That had been thirty minutes ago.

"Hey, so what are your plans when you reach Las Cruces?" Mike asked as his face appeared again on the windshield.

Sarah rolled her eyes before she spoke. "So what are you checking up on us now? You know, this is my mission. You aren't back until next week!" her voice teasing as she made a face at Mike.

Mike put his hand over his chest pretending to be hurt as he said. "But oh, my fair lady! A Knight knows no such thing."

Sarah rolled her eyes again. She knew Mike was starting to go a little stir crazy cooped up at the SSC for so long. It was causing him to be a little on the silly side. "Mike was there anything you wanted other then to bother KITT and me?"

"_Sarah, Mike is not bothering me. I quite enjoy listening to the two of you converse back_ _and forth."_ KITT said as he continued to fly down the empty highway at almost three hundred miles an hour.

The good-humored banter continued for over an hour until Mike had to go do something at the SSC.

KITT started to play the songs that he knew Sarah liked to fill the silence in the car as the road continued to speed past them. An hour later he could tell that the young woman wasn't asleep even though she had her head tilted back and her eyes were closed. It was nearly dark outside and the lonely road was dark and empty of traffic.

"_Sarah?"_ The AI asked quietly so not to startle her.

"Yes KITT?" Sarah asked after a moments pause.

_"Do you think that this will be our last mission together? That Michael will be able to return to active duty?"_

Sarah smiled, but it was a sad smile. She had gotten used to being on the road with the AI, she was going to miss it when she was back in the SSC full time. "Yes I think Mike should be back by next week, for light duty anyway. I saw his last doctors report and it indicated that he should be able to come back then." Sarah paused as she let her head fall back and again closed her eyes. "Although I hope this isn't our last mission, I've grown rather fond of these long drives through nowhere."

The AI didn't comment any further but his neural network hummed contentedly, he enjoyed the long drives with the young woman too.

It was late when they reached Las Cruces so Sarah got a room at a local motel and got up early the next morning to go talk to the Sheriff. Afterwards she went out to the White Sands Missile Range and spoke to the Major in charge there. Neither were of much help to Sarah's investigation.

It was a little after noon as Sarah sat in the Shelby eating a burger and fries from a local fast food joint pondering what their next move should be. The AI had not yet picked up even the faintest sign of the hidden locator beacon from the stolen prototype. It was almost as if it had disappeared, or been turned off.

"I think this afternoon we should ask some more people around here if they have seen anything, although I have a feeling we aren't going to find anything more out here. Then tomorrow I think we should head west into the mountains." Sarah said as she finished her cola and gathered up the wrappers to put in the nearby garbage can.

"_Yes I believe that is a good idea. The mountainous terrain could be interfering with the signal and that could be why my sensors haven't been able to pick anything up." _KITT said helpfully.

Two days later found the pair at an old gas station high up in the mountains. KITT had set up a search grid and they had been following it, but other then one blip yesterday afternoon they hadn't been able to find the signal again.

Sarah had just finished filling KITT up with gas and was in paying for it when she noticed a man in hunting clothes eyeing her. She kept one eye on him as she finished paying and left the little store to go back out and get in the Shelby. He didn't follow her out of the store but watched her through the dirty glass window of the store.

"_Sarah that man is watching you. Do you want me to run him through my face recognition software to see if I can identify him?" _KITT asked noticing her elevated heart rate.

"Yeah KITT, would you mind?" Sarah asked as she tried to shake the creepy feeling that the guy had given her.

"_Not at all Sarah."_ KITT said as he began running the face from the store through his program.

**

The man in the store watched as the black Shelby drove away from the gas station, he then opened up his cell phone and made a call.

"Yeah Colonel, this is Jackson here. That black car you told us to watch for just pulled out of Nelson's headed right for you." Jackson's smile was cruel as he closed the cell phone with a snap. He got into an old battered pickup and started down the road after the sleek black Shelby.

**

"So the guy from the gas station didn't come up on any of the searches you made? That is a little odd but not unheard of. You say he was wearing hunting clothes? Maybe he is just some backwoods hick. Not every one has a drivers license up there in the mountains." Alex Torres said, as he checked in with Sarah and KITT.

"Yeah I know." Sarah said, but she couldn't shake the feeling that his appearance at the gas station wasn't just a random meeting.

"So how much longer are you going to continue with this search pattern?" Alex asked, he was more interested in their progress or lack there of, then some lone hunter at some out of the way gas station.

"_I will need another day and a half to complete my search grid of the area."_ KITT replied to the FBI coordinator.

Sarah could see Mike sitting at one of the computer consoles along with Zoe and Billy; he smiled at her and gave her a wink. Sarah smiled back, but a blush crept up her neck as she remembered that others were watching as well.

"If we can't find anything by then we are going to go east of the Missile range and check there. Hopefully we will catch a break soon, if they haven't discovered the locator beacon and turned it off, that is." Sarah said. She was starting to get a little frustrated with this search. Not one single clue had turned up yet about the missing prototype, or the rest of the shipment. It was as if it had just disappeared into thin air.

"Well keep me posted as to your progress. The board of Directors for Knight Industries is breathing down my neck on this one. They want that prototype found. SSC out." Alex replied he knew that Sarah and KITT were doing the best that they could. He just wanted to impress upon them the importance of this mission.

As KITT drove he scanned the area with multiple sensors. However even with his sensitive technology he wasn't able to pick up anything. Other then the single blip from yesterday, which he had, after an extensive search of that area, put down as an anomaly.

Sarah was once again talking to Mike. He was in her sleeping pod back at the SSC. They talked that way several times a day, especially at night. KITT enjoyed listening to the two of them as they talked about a variety of things. The AI noted though, that the satellite signal was losing strength due to a huge thunderstorm that was just visible over the top of the nearest mountain.

"Wow, it looks like we are in for a lightening storm." Sarah said to Mike as she watched a jagged bolt of lightening streak across the darkening sky. The sun had set already behind the mountains off to her right and the storm was visible through the windshield behind the view screen with Mike in it.

_"Yes and I'm afraid the storm is starting to interfere with our satellite signal, we will lose the communications link in approximately two minutes._" The AI said as the first big drops of rain started to fall.

Concern clouded Mike's face as he looked at Sarah, he didn't like the idea of her being up in the mountains in a thunder and lightening storm, even if she was with KITT.

"KITT look after Sarah, and be careful! Storms in the mountains can be bad." He would have liked to say more but he didn't want to worry Sarah unnecessarily.

Sarah sighed; Mike was always such a worrywart. "Yes mom, we'll be careful." Sarah teased as she smiled at Mike.

_"Yes Michael I will. By the look of this storm communications may be down for over an hour."_ The rain began to hammer down in earnest, as the view screen with Mike began to flicker.

"Contact me as soon as the…" and Mike's face disappeared from the windshield, as lightening lit up the road in front of them.

Sarah felt her breath catch as thunder rolled around them, the intensity of the storm taking her by surprise.

"KITT are you going to be able to continue your search in this storm?" They had decided earlier that they would continue to search all through the night so they could cover as much ground as possible. If Sarah fell asleep then the AI could still search, he'd just wake her up if he found anything.

_"Not if the storm gets any worse. The lightening may give me false readings, so we may have to pull over and wait the storm out."_ The AI replied as his windshield wipers flicked back and forth attempting to keep the rain from obscuring the road ahead. He didn't need them to see but he knew Sarah would strain her eyes trying to see the road ahead if he didn't keep his wipers going.

The rain was coming down in torrents and the sky was almost constantly alight with bolts of lightening, and the thunder rumbled through the little valley they were in. The Shelby was barely moving on the deserted road when suddenly after a huge flash of lightening the ting of the locator beacon sounded loudly in the silence of the car.

Sarah jumped at the sound. "KITT, is that what I think it is?"

Thunder almost drowned out the beeping and KITT's voice as he answered, _"Yes. That is indeed the locator beacon from the prototype."_

"Are you sure? You just said that you might get false readings in this storm." Sarah said as she leaned forward in her seat to try to see in the wet black night.

_"Yes Sarah. I am one hundred percent sure that this is the locator beacon from the Knight Industries prototype. It is close to, I estimate that it is less then one mile to the west of us. We need to find a road heading west off this highway."_

They drove another quarter of a mile before they come upon a dirt road heading off the highway to the west.

The Shelby stopped just off the asphalt; his headlights shining down the road ahead showing muddy ruts of water running down the two wheel tracks that made up the road.

"KITT what's the matter? Why did you stop?" Sarah asked as she looked out the windshield as the wipers tried to keep it clear of the pounding rain.

"_The storm is effecting some of my sensors, and the satellite is still off line. I'm not sure where this road leads, it is not on any of my maps and my GPS is down._" KITT said a trace of worry in his voice. He wasn't used to having this many of his location systems not working at once.

"Do you think that the road is unsafe?" Sarah asked as she remembered hearing stories about flash floods in valleys during heavy rainstorms, like the one they were in now.

_"No, my depth and range sensors are working just fine. I am just not sure where this road leads."_

"KITT, I really don't want to lose this signal. Why don't we just go down this road a ways and see where it goes. If it gets too bad or we lose the signal we can always turn around and come back out." Sarah said as lightening lit up the road ahead.

KITT knew that Sarah didn't want to lose the signal now that they had finally found it, and he was sure that he could detect if the road became impassible before they got stuck. What was bothering him was why didn't they detect the signal before now.

_"All right Sarah. I will go down this road, but if I think it is getting too dangerous I'm turning around and we'll wait until morning."_

Sarah grinned at the AI; he could be such a worrywart too sometimes.

**

As soon as the communications link with KITT went down Mike went back out to the control center. He knew it was just a storm that had knocked out the satellite feed but he was still uncomfortable not being able to have contact with Sarah or KITT.

He sat down beside Billy at a computer and brought up the Doppler radar for the mountain area that KITT and Sarah were in. He didn't need a weather forecaster to tell him it was a bad storm.

"That's odd. I just got a signal from the locator beacon on the prototype." Billy said as he worked quickly on his computer to pin point it's exact location.

Mike glanced over at Billy's screen and noted the strong signal. He was just about to ask Billy about the signal being so strong in the storm when the Alarms in the SSC went off. Then the power went out.

* * *

Ohhh a cliffie!*author grins evilly* Well hope you liked it, please let me know what you thought! Sorry but this will be the last chapter before Christmas. Sorry! So before you throw something at me for torturing you just let me say I promise that I will post again as soon as I can after Christmas! I'll call it my New Years resolution!*grins evilly again!* Happy Holidays to you and all your families!

ps- If you review I will write the next chapter faster! Hey I'm not above bribery!;)


	8. Chapter 8

Disclaimer - Ha! Ha! Ha! Me? Own Knight Rider! If you believe that then you have had way too much holiday cheer!:)

Switching Places

Chapter 8

Mike wiped the sweat from his face with his sleeve and paused to rest for a moment. He was making good time but he also knew that he was pushing his body to its limit. As much as he loathed admitting it, he wasn't 100% yet.

It was tight going as he worked his way up through the dark air vent. It was hot because the four exhaust fans were still off, but he needed to make it to the exhaust fan in the ductwork that he was in, before it came back on line. When he shined his flashlight at his watch he noted, he only had another minute before the big fan came back on. Then he would be in serious trouble.

He scurried another ten feet in the square ductwork before he came to the grate that separated the fan blades from the ductwork he was in. He turned off the flashlight then reached into his backpack and pulled out the laser rods that would cut the grate. He had just finished cutting the grate and pulled the piece back when he heard the first of the four exhaust fans start. Scrambling through the hole in the grate he wiggled between the huge fan blades as the second fan came back on line. He pulled the last two laser cutting rods out of his backpack hurrying as fast as he could, he started to cut the last grate that would let him out of the air vent to safety. He was only about half way done cutting the hole when the third fan came back online, fear tried to slither its way into his thoughts but he pushed it away. He could hear the big fan behind him begin to hum as it started to come back online, he grabbed a hold of the grate and yanked it open even though it wasn't cut all the way around. He threw his backpack out the hole and pulled himself out, scratching his back on the sharp metal. He'd made it out just in time as the huge fan blades began to turn, and the fourth exhaust fan came back online.

Completely spent he collapsed on the ground beside the massive exhaust hood that expelled stale air from the SSC. He sat there for only a moment before he forced his tired body up and raced towards the dark parking lot. When he reached a dark colored Toyota Corolla he unlocked the door with the key and climbed in. He paused only long enough to text one word, 'out' on his cell phone before he started the car and drove out through the security gate, nodding to the guard as he went.

It wasn't until he was on the highway heading towards the city that he breathed a sigh of relief. That had been too close for comfort.

When the alarm in the SSC started and the lights went out, Mike had jumped up and raced for his sleeping pod acting on pure instinct, he knew something wasn't right. His hunch had paid off when Billy had text him that the SSC was running a surprise full lockdown drill and that they would be in full lockdown mode for the next twelve hours. Mike couldn't help but think that something was a little suspicious, especially when Billy had sent another message that along with the communications lockdown that all employees were to be accounted for. Mike had made up his mind then that he was getting out of the SSC to go find Sarah. It couldn't be just a coincidence that the signal for the locator beacon had showed up on the screen and moments later the power went out and the SSC went into a twelve-hour communications lockdown.

Mike navigated through the city with ease, and soon he was out past the city limits. As he turned off the highway the headlights of the Corolla cut across a faded sign that read, Calder Air next right.

Mike pulled up in front of the hanger and to his relief there was a light on inside the office part.

**

Awareness slowly came back to Sarah. She could still hear the rain, although it was just sprinkling now, and thunder rumbled off in the distance. It was very dark, and she couldn't see anything except varying shades of black. She tried to figure out where she was and why she was laying on the wet ground. Instinct told her not to move.

"I told you Colonel that this car had some bells and whistles. Although I didn't figure on it shooting that pur'ty little thing out like that!" A deep thick southern accent drawled from nearby.

"Yeah but that new missile barely put a dent in the thing, and if it hadn't been for the flash flood we'd never have been able to capture it…" an excited man's voice said.

"Enough! Just pick up the girl and take her to our camp." A gruff voice ordered.

"_Sarah! Can you hear me?"_ KITT asked his voice full of concern.

"Yeah," Sarah breathed the word.

_"There are three armed men approaching your position! There is no cover nearby. I suggest you play possum. The missile damaged numerous systems, including my nano processor so I am unable to repair the damage at the present time. I can be of no assistance to you."_

"Ok, can you contact the SSC?" Sarah whispered, desperately hoping that she wasn't heard, as she tried to remain still even though her cloths were now soaked from lying on the wet ground.

_"Negative. There is something jamming all my communications. What ever it is, it is also jamming my emergency signal. I have no way of attempting to override the jamming mechanism until I am out of this water. The missile also breached my hind right fender, water is seeping into my hull."_

"Oh God." Sarah breathed, if the water reached any of KITT's vital circuitry…! Sarah's worry for the AI was cut short when she felt a pair of hands grab her arm and start to lift. Forgetting the AI's advice she used the lifting motion to her advantage and rolled over quickly over balancing the man who had been about to pick her up. She continued to roll as the man fell, escaping from being pinned under him. She made to jump to her feet when another hand grabbed her hair at the back of her head and pulled, forcing her head back. A knife was pressed against her throat.

"Now look here, little lady, don't you be trying anything stupid. You hear me?" The man with the thick southern accent said.

Fear sliced through Sarah, with an awkward swallow she said, "Yes!" The knife continued to press hard against her throat.

KITT watched helplessly as the three-armed men took Sarah away. The AI had run all possible scenarios for helping Sarah but he hadn't come up with one that would work, not in his current position anyway. Right now he couldn't even help himself.

**

They had continued down the dirt road coming to a wooden bridge, his scanners were on maximum power but he still hadn't been able to tell what was on the other side of the bridge, something was interfering with his systems. That was when the locator beacon had stopped. KITT had driven out onto the bridge, he immediately knew that something was wrong. His scanners suddenly registered the three buildings on the other side of the river along with a dozen people and weaponry. He was also aware that the river he was crossing was dangerously swollen and still rising. Then there was the sudden appearance of the man with the missile launcher directly behind him hidden from eyesight behind a bush.

The Knight Industries prototype missile had locked onto the AI, and in the milliseconds that it took the man to squeeze the trigger KITT knew that if he was hit where the missile was aimed that Sarah would not survive the impact. The schematics that Billy had given him told the AI that this missile would do serious damage if he received a direct hit from it. KITT made a split second decision, with no time to tell Sarah he hit his turbo boost, although because he wasn't in attack mode he wasn't able to do more then lift three feet in the air but by adjusting the amount of thrust on one side he was able to angle to the right more. He engaged his driver side ejection seat sending Sarah up onto the far bank of the river as the missile struck his rear fender a glancing blow and smashed into the bridge, blowing it up. The Shelby plunged into the river and would have been carried away if he had not fired his grappling hook into the nearest tree. As it was the rushing current had pushed him in between two massive boulders, wedging the car on its driver's side completely submersed under the floodwater.

**

Sarah had been taken to a tent, searched for a weapon, then tied to a chair and left alone. The tent was dark, but a light was on in the other section of the tent and some of the light crept under the divider. She didn't think anyone was over there at the moment as she hadn't heard a sound for some time.

The shock of being shot out of KITT and captured had receded and the reality of the situation had set in. She had been caught. KITT was severally damaged, just how badly she didn't know and no one at the SSC knew where she was. She didn't know who her captors were or what they wanted. To say she was in trouble would be an understatement!

"KITT, can you hear me?" Sarah decided to chance contacting the AI, she wasn't sure why she hadn't been searched for a communication device, but she was glad she hadn't.

"_Yes Sarah I can hear you, but your signal is weak. Are you alright?" _KITT's voice was scratchy as if it was coming from far away instead of just a little under a hundred yards.

"Yes I'm fine, they tied me up and then left me alone. How are you? Have you been able to seal the leak in your hull?" Sarah asked concerned that the AI might short circuit.

"_Yes. I was able to seal off that section until I am able to fully assess the damage."_ The AI replied.

"KITT what do you think is jamming your communication…" Sarah started to ask but the AI interrupted her.

_"Sarah, four armed men are approaching your tent."_

"KITT!" Sarah cried as panic started to set in.

"_Sarah, please try to stay calm I will be right here with you."_ The AI said. The words sounding hollow even to him, but he wanted to reassure Sarah as best he could.

The sound of approaching footsteps stopped any reply that Sarah might have made. The divider in the tent was pulled back and light flooded the small room causing Sarah to shut her eyes and turn her head away from the bright light.

After a few seconds Sarah opened her eyes and saw someone place a chair in front of her and sit down. Her eyes had adjusted to the light by this time and she looked at the man sitting in front of her, and what she saw first was a long jagged scar that cut across his face, then she noticed his eyes. They were the eyes of a killer.

"Tell me where Mike Traceur is." The man with the scar said, his gaze cold as he looked into Sarah's eyes.

Sarah would of leaned back more if she could have in the chair she was tied to, her stomach clenched in fear as she recognized the man from the warehouse where Mike had been hurt.

"I don't know." Sarah said her voice wavering just slightly.

"Well now, somehow I don't believe you. Did Traceur tell you how he gave me this scar? Or how he helped to 'persuade' me to talk?" The man leered at Sarah, clearly enjoying intimidating her.

Sarah racked her brain trying to remember everything that Mike had said, and what she had been able to read about his military career. It wasn't much. Nothing she knew suggested that he had interrogated anyone before.

"What do you want?" Sarah asked as she tried to think, and not allow this man to intimidate her.

The man with the scar smiled but it was a nasty smile. "Me? I want to use you and that car out there as bait to lure Traceur here so I can pay him back." Two of the other men laughed cruelly.

Sarah forced her voice past the lump in her throat, "You stole a whole shipment of weapons to lure Mike here?"

"No sweetheart, Traceur is just going to be my extra bonus. You see I'm a contractor, and I have an order to fill."

"You mean you're an arms dealer! Who are you selling those prototypes to?" Sarah asked as she realized that she had stumbled into a hornet's nest.

"Colonel," A man in army fatigues said as he stepped into the tent and addressed the man with the scar. "I have just received a message from Mr. Smith. He wants us to extract the car from the river. It seems the woman is one of the tech's that work on the car at Knight Industries. Her name is Sarah Graiman."

Sarah couldn't believe what she heard, there was only one way that these men could have that information.

"Well, well, so you are the famous Sarah Graiman?" The Colonel asked

"That's not all Colonel, it seems Traceur isn't at Knight Industries, he somehow escaped the lockdown. His location isn't known at this time." The man in army fatigues finished saying.

The smile that was on the Colonel's face sent a shiver down Sarah's back, evil was the only way she could describe it. Fear's fingers wrapped firmly around her heart, there was a leak at the SSC and there was some sort of lock down, but Mike had escaped?

"Good. I didn't think a lockdown would hold Traceur for long." The Colonel said as he stood up from the chair. "Murphy, let Mr. Smith know that we want our bonus money for that car along with what he owes us for the other goods. Then have the boys haul that car out of the water so this sweet little thing can start fixing it up. Mr. Smith won't want a car that is busted!"

A feeling of dread settled over Sarah as she watched her captors leave through the flap in the tent, she could still hear the man addressed as Colonel giving more orders.

"_Sarah, my scanners show that the men have left the tent, are you alright?"_ The AI asked he had been listening to the conversation and much of what he heard troubled him.

Sarah took a deep breath then answered the AI. "Yeah KITT I'm alright. Did you hear what they said?"

"_Yes, I was able to listen in over the COM link in your ear. Do you know a Mr. Smith?"_

"No, but I doubt that is his real name. If he does work at the SSC then it wouldn't be very smart to use his real name and I believe that who ever this Mr. Smith is, he is very smart and dangerous."

_"Yes, I agree."_

" What do you think of the lockdown at the SSC? Do you think that there was an accident? And what about Mike escaping?"

_"I have run that through my processors several times and I do not believe that it was a coincidence that the locator beacon on the prototype was activated and then the SSC went into lockdown mode. With such a strong signal I would be surprised if the SSC didn't pick it up even in such a electrical storm."_

"What about Mike escaping?" Sarah asked again.

_"I don't know. Until I am able to repair some of my damaged systems and analyze what sort of device is jamming my communications, then I am afraid I have no answers to those questions."_

"KITT, do you think that the theft of the prototypes and our being lured here is all a scheme to get to Mike?" Sarah whispered as she gave voice to her growing fear.

There was silence for a moment as the AI ran the possibility through his thought processors. _"I do not know Sarah, at this time I do not have enough information to form such a hypothesis. There are currently to many unknowns for me to believe such a plan is being implemented by our captors."_

**

"Hey Mike we are almost to Red's place he will loan you a ranch truck so you can get into town. I'd love to stay and chat but I gotta get this cargo to Colorado before I lose this contract. Our little detour has put me a bit behind schedule, but hey, I'm glad to help out an old friend if I can." The pilot of the turboprop plane called over the drone of the engine as he banked the plane to line up with the small private landing strip.

Mike looked out the passenger side window at the dark landscape below and the string of small lights that marked the ranch's landing strip. The horizon was just starting to lighten with the first light of dawn. He'd been lucky that he arrived at Calder Air when he did. Chance Calder a friend from when he was still in school, owned and ran a small air cargo service from California to the mid west. Chance had been just about to take off with a delivery when Mike had arrived, and was willing to make a detour to eastern Arizona to drop Mike off at a remote ranch owned by Chance's friend Red James. It was the closest landing strip to the Knight Industries prototype's locator beacon that Chance and Mike could come up with on such short notice. Of course Mike hadn't told Chance why he needed to get to Arizona so fast and Chance hadn't asked.

Mike glanced at his watch it was 5:48am. It would be another three hours or so before the communications lockdown at the SSC was over and Billy was able to contact him.

"Thanks Chance, you have no idea how much I appreciate this." Mike called over the sound of the engine as the small plane touched down.

"Yeah, well you're welcome, but I won't be impressed if I get a call from the authorities about this detour." Chance called back as he slowed the plane to a halt.

Mike grinned at his old friend as he grabbed his gear from behind his seat and opened the door to get out.

"Hey Mike! Be careful! I'll be sending you my bill, and dead men pay no bills!" Chance yelled, just before Mike shut the door on the plane.

Mike flashed his friend his best smile, and waved that he'd heard him. A tall man in a cowboy hat stood by a pick-up truck and Mike made his way over to him as the plane turned and started back down the runway.

* * *

A/N Well I hope everyone had a great holiday! Happy New Year (even if it is a little late) So what did you think? Sarah and KITT seem to be in a spot of trouble.

Is our brave hero going to come charging in to rescue them? Well that would be tellin wouldn't it? Yes I know I'm mean. However reviews tend to speed up my

typing fingers! Hint, hint ,hint. Well until next time, cytpotter


	9. Chapter 9

Disclaimer: You all know that I do not own Knight Rider, because it and this story are only rated ' T ' for teen! :)

Switching Places

Chapter 9

Sarah's fingers danced over the keyboard as she checked the operating systems on the Knight Three Thousand one by one as several armed guards stood over her. The chain shackles on her ankles and a waist belt further deterred her escape. Especially considering that the shackles and waist belt were chained to the trigger mechanism of one of the prototype missiles. To try to run would be suicide.

After the flash flood had receded the guerillas had been able to pull the Shelby out of the gully, and into a tent for Sarah to work on, using the tractor from the big rig they had stolen.

"Winston, make sure little miss smarty pants here doesn't go doing anything she's not supposed to. We only have to have the car running. We don't need any of the bells and whistles working." McNeil growled at the slim built man who was working at the other computer console in the tent.

"You just worry about doing your job and I'll worry about doing mine McNeil." Winston retorted as he kept track of what Sarah was doing as she ran diagnostic tests on the Shelby.

Sarah sighed, it wasn't bad enough she was being forced to fix KITT here in this less then ideal setting, but the guerillas computer tech was always arguing with McNeil.

"_Sarah I am still unable to fully access my diagnostic protocols. Water from the breach in my hull has caused several nano sensors to short circuit. Until they are repaired I will not be able to access my diagnostic protocols with the secondary mainframe."_ KITT said to Sarah via her earwig so that none of the guerillas could hear.

"Um hmm." Sarah said as she nodded her head so that the AI would know she heard.

"Um hmm, what?" asked Winston as he left his computer to come stand behind Sarah and look at her computer screen. "What did you find?"

"Just as I thought, water has short circuited a sensor. Until I fix the sensor the engine isn't going to start." Sarah said thinking fast. She just hoped that Winston wasn't any smarter then he looked.

"Well you had better fix it then. If this car isn't running by the time Mr. Smith gets here there will be hell to pay, sweet cheeks." Winston said, as he walked back and sat down at his computer.

"_Do you think that he believes you?"_ KITT asked unsure if the lie would work.

When the Shelby had been pulled out of the creek, Sarah was afraid that she would be unable to help repair the damage that the AI had sustained. She was fairly certain from what she had over heard the guerillas say that they didn't fully understand what the Knight Three Thousand could do, and for that she was thankful. They just thought the Shelby was an armored car with a few added features. They didn't suspect the artificial intelligence that was it's heart and soul.

So Sarah just nodded her head again to answer KITT's question as she picked up a couple of tools and pulling her chain tether went to the Shelby's trunk to access the panel that the short circuited sensors were behind. She could see the crumpled rear fender where the missile had struck. She paused and knelt to run her fingers along the jagged edge closely inspecting it to make sure there where no embedded particles that would interfere with the nanomites repairs once the system was rebooted.

**

"Colonel Hancock, sir. I have just received a message from Jackson confirming that Mr. Smith will be here tomorrow morning at zero nine hundred hours." Murphy reported as he stepped into the Colonel's tent.

The Colonel just nodded his head and waved the young man away, he was far more interested in what his lieutenant was reporting then when their pompous buyer would be arriving.

"As I was saying, Traceur caught a ride on a small cargo plane to a private air strip on a ranch just one hundred and fifty miles north west of here." Said Fletcher as he pointed the airfield out on a topographical map hanging on the tent wall.

"You are sure this information is correct?" The Colonel asked as he turned from the map to face his lieutenant. It wasn't that he didn't trust the man but he needed to know just how accurate the information was.

"Yes sir, I'm sure. My cousin is a janitor at the air traffic control tower and he overheard the pilot changing his flight plan to accommodate a new package. He then overheard Traceur speaking to the pilot over the radio, he recognized his voice from when he helped us at the warehouse." Fletcher replied facing the man who had lead him and his collogues, in their fight to bring justice and freedom to the righteous.

"Good, very good. Alert the patrols to be on the look out. Traceur will be coming and I want him caught. He needs to pay for the atrocities that he has committed against this country and me!" Colonel Hancock demanded, his willing lieutenant saluting before leaving to relay the Colonel's orders.

**

Mike pulled the rented car he was driving over to the side of the road.

He had made it into the nearest town from Red James' ranch in about an hour and a half with the borrowed ranch truck and then rented a car. He had been driving towards the location of the locator beacon for two hours when his cell phone rang. It was Billy.

"Hey Billy, the lockdown at the SSC finally over?" Mike asked as he put the car in park.

"Hey Mike, yeah the lockdown is over but Torres is pissed. When you didn't report to your emergency reporting station the fellow from the Board of Directors, Mr. Lansky lost it. I actually thought he was going to pop a coronary right there. I even heard that some of the other tech's had a wager on when he was going to drop."

"Billy!" Mike growled, he wasn't interested in what some bureaucrat did or didn't do. He needed to find Sarah.

"Sorry Mike." Billy said sheepishly.

Mike took a deep breath and blew it out slowly, he needed to keep his cool. "No I'm sorry Billy, it's been a long night." He rubbed a tired hand over his face. "Have you been able to locate Sarah and KITT yet?"

"No, that is the reason I was so long contacting you after the lockdown was over. As soon as the SSC came back online Mr. Lansky left. Torres ordered me to contact KITT and Sarah, but I wasn't able to locate them or their signal anywhere. That's when Torres ordered a satellite search of their last known coordinates. We couldn't find them anywhere, it's as if they vanished just like the shipment of prototype missiles." Billy said quietly as he looked around the deserted gaming room. He was rerouting his cell phone signal and piggy backing it out of the SSC to the secure satellite signal that the CIA used so unless he was spotted talking he was unlikely to be caught. Still he was nervous, this espionage thing wasn't for him, but he wanted to help Mike.

"I had a feeling something like this was going to happen, that's why I split. You used the satellite to search the area around where the locator beacon came from right? The signal we got right before everything went black?" Mike asked glad he had listened to his instincts and gotten out of the SSC. Bureaucracy had no place in his plan of action. His gut told him that Sarah was in trouble and it had something to do with the missing prototypes.

"Yes but we couldn't find anything, nothing at all…" Billy's voice trailed off as his mind leapt into gear. "Mike! That's it! There was nothing there!"

"Yeah, Billy you said that already." Mike rolled his eyes at the computer tech, he'd never understand geeks, and it didn't matter how good of a friend he considered this one to be.

"No Mike! You don't get it, there was nothing there! No tree's, no rock formations, nothing." Billy couldn't believe he didn't see it before, he had just put it off at the time as a glitch in the system but what if… "Don't you see Mike there is some sort of jamming devise there interrupting the satellite signal and if it is strong enough to jam the satellite signal then,"

"It's strong enough to block KITT's!" Mike finished for the excited tech. "Good work Billy! I'm on my way there now!" he listened to Billy for a few more minutes as Billy gave him the exact coordinates and told Mike he'd call in a couple of hours before Mike went into the 'dead zone' as Billy named it.

**

Sarah pinched the bridge of her nose with her forefinger and thumb trying to clear her head. She was exhausted, not only had she been up since yesterday morning but also she hadn't had a cup of coffee yet this morning. Plus the bickering she had to listen to was really starting to get on her nerves.

"Enough! What are you two a couple of eight year olds?" Sarah demanded as she stood up in front of the Shelby, looking at Winston and McNeil with distain.

"Look here little girly, you just mind your manners and fix that there car." McNeil drawled as he came over to stand in front of Sarah looking her up and down.

Sarah saw red. Her knee made contact with McNeil's groin causing him to bend forward at the same time her right palm connected with his nose, dropping the guerilla.

The ominous sound of a bullet being chambered into the automatics that the guards carried stopped Sarah from kicking McNeil, as the man writhed in agony on the floor.

"What the hell is going on in here? Can't you grunts even keep a lone woman under control?" Colonel Hancock yelled as he walked into the tent having seen the trollop hit McNeil.

"_Sarah I do not believe that hitting that man was the most logical course of action."_ KITT's voice through her earwig had the slightest tinge of sarcasm in it.

"Argh!" Sarah's frustration was getting the best of her. "If you want me to fix this… bloody car then you had better keep your creepy men away from me!"

"_**Bloody car**__, really now Sarah_, _do you have to resort to name calling?" _The AI whispered in her ear.

"Look here woman, you had better fix that car if you know what is good for you." Hancock growled at Sarah before he turned to McNeil who was slowly getting to his feet still in obvious pain. "McNeil! I don't want to see you back in here. I want you out patrolling the perimeter, so that when Traceur arrives we can welcome him properly."

Sarah had turned her back on the Colonel to finish what she had been doing under the Shelby's hood when the guerilla leader said Mike's name.

Her heart thundering she slowly turned to look at the scar faced Colonel, he had a cruel smile on his face as he watched her.

"Yeah woman, that foolish Traceur is on his way here. Revenge will be sweet." And with that he turned and walked out of the tent.

Sarah watched him until the flap on the tent stopped swaying. Mike was headed here? Surely he would know it was a trap, but how would he? A small voice in her mind asked, there hasn't been a single communication from KITT since the storm knocked out their satellite link early last evening.

"_Sarah, please breathe. Your vital signs are starting to alarm me."_ KITT said into the earwig as he scanned the young woman standing at his prow.

Taking a big breath Sarah turned back to the Shelby. What was she going to do? What could she do? She was a prisoner chained to a missile. KITT had suffered heavy damage, many of his systems were not responding including his drive train meaning that he had no mobility. Plus he had not been able to override whatever was jamming his communications signal, so he had not been able to contact the SSC.

Tapping lightly with her finger Sarah tapped out her message to the AI. "What are we going to do?" Not being able to talk with KITT had been very frustrating, until she remembered the early communications course her father had forced her to take when she was fourteen. At the time she had thought it was a waste of time learning about ham radio's and Morse code. She was a bit rusty but the AI was usually able to decipher what she had tapped out.

"_You have fixed the circuits that the water damaged and dried the compartment that was water logged, I don't think there is anything else you can do. I am gong to have to go offline and reboot with my secondary mainframe so that I can access my diagnostic protocols and bring my nano system back online." _KITT said, he really didn't want to go offline and leave Sarah all alone, but there wasn't anything else left that she could do, the rest was up to him and his programs.

"Yes go ahead." Sarah tapped as she used a rag to wipe some more dirt off the Shelby's engine.

"_Sarah, I do not want to leave you here alone."_ KITT stated as he ran through his programs trying to find a way to appease his directive that said he must protect _his_ Sarah.

Sarah sighed, if Mike was really on his way then the best thing that they could do was be ready, and that meant KITT being able to give them protection and get them out of there when the time came. "We need to be ready when Mike comes." Sarah's fingers patted the message to the AI.

The AI agreed, his directive was satisfied, the only way to protect Sarah was to proceed with repairs. If Michael was truly on his way then it was all the more important to be fully functional again. "_Sarah, my bio sensing matrix indicates that you are extremely fatigued, I will be offline for twenty eight minutes, please try to rest. You are going to need to be prepared when Michael gets here also." _The AI said softly into the earwig.

Sarah smiled at the Shelby, she was glad that she wasn't alone here. "I'll try"

"_Initiating Shutdown."_

"Hey what are you doing?" Winston called as he looked up from his computer screen at the sound of a chain dragging to see the woman opening the driver side door and getting in.

Sarah looked over at the computer tech, she suspected that he had been playing some game because the guard that was standing over there had been watching with a great deal of interest also. "I can't do any more until the batteries recharge for the onboard computer so I can finish running the diagnostic tests. I'm tired. I'm going to sit in here and rest." Sarah said as she settled herself into the Shelby's driver seat.

"Well how long is that going to take anyway?" Winston asked as he got up and walked over to the car looking under the hood, he was a computer tech he knew nothing about cars.

"Oh I'd say at least two maybe three hours." Sarah said as she smiled quietly to herself, thankful the guerilla tech was as lazy as he was incompetent.

**

"Billy! Open a chat line with Rivai and patch it through to my office." Torres ordered as he turned and walked out of the control center.

Zoe glanced over at Billy and rolled her eyes. Torres had been barking orders ever since the lockdown had been initiated the night before. Then when Mike couldn't be found at the SSC well Mr. Lansky wasn't the only one who had been livid. She had never seen a vein pulse on the side of someone's head like Torres' had. She felt bad for poor Dr. Graiman though, he had been worried about Sarah all night because her last communication with Mike at the SSC had been cut off by the electrical storm. They had tried to reestablish contact with KITT this morning after the lockdown was lifted but they were unsuccessful.

" Zoe, the next satellite is due to come online in thirty seconds could you please put it on the view screen." Dr. Graiman asked his voice tight with concern for Sarah and KITT.

"Sure Dr. Graiman," Zoe said smiling at him. She was worried about Sarah and KITT too. This had been the seventh satellite search they had preformed this morning. Zoe glanced at her watch, correction on that she thought, it was now 1:05 pm.

"Do you think we might see Mike if we keep looking?" Billy asked Zoe quietly as he leaned over towards her. He had told Zoe about Mike escaping from the SSC and heading to where the locator beacon signal had come from, however he hadn't told anyone else. He wasn't sure if Torres suspected something or not, but he was sure Dr. Graiman didn't.

Zoe lifted her eyebrows as she said sarcastically, "You had better hope not, especially if Torres finds out you have been helping Mike." And she drew her finger across her neck.

**

Mike paused to wipe the sweat off his face. The sun was high overhead and there wasn't a breath of air in the thick underbrush that he was walking through. He had left his rented car hidden several miles away on an old logging road that hadn't been used in years. It was now just after two in the afternoon

Mike had received a call from Billy about twenty minutes ago confirming that there had been no further communications from Sarah and KITT, and satellite searches had failed to turn anything up either. Billy had also informed him that Torres had ordered Rivai to Albuquerque, New Mexico to start searching for KITT and Sarah and Torres had also put an APB out on Mike for being AWOL. Mike had rolled his eyes, miss one little lockdown and people go all ape shit over it.

He glanced down at his GPS, he was less then one mile from his target. He should be approaching the dead zone, as Billy had called it. Mike flipped his phone open, there was no signal, of course that could be because he was in the mountains, but he didn't think so.

Mike continued moving through the brush silently, calling upon his training as an Army Ranger. It was slow going because of the rough terrain. His one big advantage, if this was where the prototype missiles were being stored as he suspected, was the element of surprise. He couldn't shake the feeling that there was something more going on here then a simple case of missing prototypes. Where were Sarah and KITT? How did the fact that they had dropped off the radar factor into all of this? Mike refused to allow the idea that they might be hurt or worse, to enter into his mind. They just had to be all right.

He didn't know why he didn't want anyone at the SSC to know where he was, it was just a notion he had that something there wasn't right. However he trusted Billy.

The sound of a twig snapping froze the ex-army ranger in his tracks. With a quick look around the area he stepped silently off the animal path he was following and into some heavy underbrush. All was silent, even the birds had ceased their singing.

"Swamp Fox this is Badger, sector seven is all clear." A voice from just down the hill said.

"Roger that Badger, keep your eyes open or the Colonel will have your ass! Swamp Fox out."

Mike crept to a large boulder and peered around it, he could see a man in hunting clothes with a assault rifle standing down the steep slope no more then twelve yards away.

As Mike watched from his vantage point the man in hunting clothes began walking away from him, heading down the slope, after a moments indecision he started to carefully follow the man in hunting clothes. This was obviously a guard on patrol, and only places with something to hide had guards.

Mike continued to follow the guard in hunting clothes as he went down the side of the mountain and around a large jagged outcrop of rock with a high rock wall to his right and a steep narrow gully on his left. Mike paused behind a clump of sagebrush as the guard disappeared from sight around a narrow bend, he was going to be totally exposed if he continued to follow the guard. He looked out over the narrow gully and could see brush and debris from flash floods that would of filled the narrow gully. He could also see farther down the ruminants of a bridge that used to cross the gully, upon closer inspection with his field glasses he could tell that the bridge had just recently washed out.

What was he going to do? If he continued to follow the guard he would be completely exposed to whatever was around the narrow bend, but he couldn't stay here if another guard walked by he could be seen behind this bush. If he turned back it might take him hours or even days to find another way around this outcrop. Not for the first time he wished he had worn his army fatigues, at least they would have helped to conceal him.

Using what cover he could he crawled to the bend in the trail. What he saw beyond made him pause yet again. He was looking down into a small box canyon with a dozen army tents and numerous vehicles.

A healthy growth of bushes a few feet away offered Mike some cover and he jumped to his feet and in a crouch ran into the brush. Keeping to the edge of his cover he circled the camp, several times having to duck down so he wouldn't be seen. And what he saw was plenty. The semi-trailer with the prototype missiles sat in between the tents with camouflage netting covering it, the tractor was also sitting under some netting. And all along the perimeter there where tripods set up every forty feet or so, at first Mike thought it might be some sort of security system, but as he watched the guards go in and out of the camp he didn't think so.

The sun had set behind the mountain and it was getting dark fast in the little canyon. Mike was watching a couple of guards as they completed their rounds.

"…you know what I'd do with a car like that? Hell I'd knock off a bank then head down to Mexico. I'd live like a king! That thing is a real chick magnet." A guard said to his companion as he passed by.

"You had better watch what you say, if the Colonel hears you talking like that he'd gut you and leave you to the coyotes." The other guard replied before they were out of hearing range.

Mike could only think of one car that would fit that description. He needed to figure out which tent KITT was in. As carefully as he could he trailed after the guards trying to catch what else they were saying. He hadn't gone very far when his foot caught in something. He stopped dead, the hairs on the back of his neck stood on end.

It was a trip wire.

* * *

A/N Ducks as readers throw things for yet another cliff hanger. All the while grinning evilly! :) I'm sorry this chapter took so long, I could bore you to tears with

the dull facts of my life, but I won't. Just know that I am writting and posting as fast as I can. Now I have a challenge to all you readers, I want to know if you

have any questions or concerns about the technical side of this story. I am trying my best to make it as convincing and believable as possible but I want to

know if I have succeeded or not, so please leave a review to let me know how I am doing! As usual reviews help my fingers type faster and let's me know

someone out there cares what happens to Mike and Sarah next! :) Until next time, cytpotter


	10. Chapter 10

Disclaimer: I do not own Knight Rider. I am just borrowing the charactors for awhile. Don't worry I will give them back! ;)

Only because I must though!

**Just a warning there is violence and torture in this chapter, nothing to graphic but I don't want anyone to read this if that kind of thing disturbs you.

Switching Places

Chapter 10

The Shelby scanned his woman driver as she sat sleeping in his driver's seat. He had rebooted his systems with his secondary mainframe and was able to access his diagnostic protocols to assess his damaged systems. The AI was also able to restart his nano scan and diverted all available power to his nano shields for repair. That had been two hours, thirty-six minutes, and twelve seconds ago. He had completed thirty percent of his repairs. The AI's bio matrix scan showed that Sarah had not had time to fully recover from her fatigue, she was only at about twenty-four percent, but the man named Winston was getting up from his computer. The AI knew that the game the computer tech had been playing was finished and given the time frame that Sarah had set for the Shelby's imaginary batteries to recharge, the guerilla tech was likely coming over to wake Sarah up.

The AI considered trying to stop Winston, but many of his none lethal systems were still off line and his directive to not kill overrode his desire to allow Sarah some more time to recover from her fatigue. The AI was still displeased though when the guerilla tapped on his driver side window.

"Hey, you! Sweet cheeks. Wake up!" Winston called as he again tapped on the window to wake the sleeping woman up.

"_Sarah, You need to wake up, the man named Winston is tapping on my window."_ KITT said into Sarah's earwig.

Sarah slowly opened her eyes, she had been dreaming about dancing with Mike on a deserted beach while KITT played soft music in the background. The sight of the guerilla standing beside KITT brought reality crashing back into Sarah's consciousness. With a start Sarah sat up in the Shelby and opened the door, pushing the hair that had come lose from her ponytail out of her face.

"What do you want?" She asked as she tried to remember all that had taken place in the past twenty-four hours. She was still tired and her memory felt sluggish and slow as the details finally all clicked into place.

"You need to get back to fixing the car! It's been over two hours now, those batteries should be recharged." Winston gripped as he glanced nervously toward the tent flap. The guard by the flap was a good friend and wouldn't say anything to anyone about the woman sleeping or his little lapse with the computer game, but the guard's were about to change and one never knew who might be sent to watch over the woman. It wasn't a good idea to anger the Colonel.

Sarah nodded her head and slowly got out of the car stretching as she did so. She had never been so thankful that she had opted to wear her yoga pants and a comfy baby-t as she was now. Her cross-trainers were still damp but at least they weren't hurting her feet. She fixed her ponytail and pulling her chain tether with her, she walked around to the front of the Shelby. Her stomach emitted a ferocious growl, reminding her and everyone else within hearing range that she hadn't eaten yet today.

Winston watched as the woman lifted the hood of the Shelby and poked her head under it. He had heard her stomach growl and guiltily he wondered when was the last time she had something to eat. With a sigh he turned and walked out of the tent.

The guerilla tech had come back a short while later with army rations and a thermos of coffee. Sarah had never tasted anything so good.

That had been over six hours ago.

She had spent the rest of the time carefully fixing the Shelby so that the AI was now running at ninety-three percent, which was no mean feat for a field repair such as this one had been.

Once the AI finished his repairs, he had turned his attention to hacking into the guerillas computer system, where he learned several interesting things the most important being that the communications jamming mechanism being used by the guerillas was from the Knight Industries Research and Development department. Despite his best efforts the AI hadn't been able to disengage it yet. He had also discovered an alarming amount of classified information about the prototype missiles on their computers. He had relayed this information to Sarah, and she had been just as disturbed by it as he was.

Sarah frowned up at the front wheel of the Shelby, as she lay underneath pretending to work on the brakes. She and KITT had decided to keep up the pretense of repairing the car to keep the guerillas from asking too many questions.

"_Sarah, I believe that is the reason you were not searched for a communication device, they thought that they had all communications jammed. Which would be true if you were to step outside this tent."_ KITT said as he again tried to use his scanners to gather information on the guerillas and surrounding area. "_The jamming device is also interfering with my long range scanners but I believe I have located the trailer with the prototype missiles in it." _

Sarah was just about to ask KITT about the radio's she had seen the guards carrying when KITT interrupted her.

"_Sarah, the man they call Colonel Hancock is coming." _

Taking a deep breath Sarah tried to force the creepy feeling she got when she was near the 'Colonel' away. She had learned long ago that animals were very good at sensing fear. She managed to control her fear as voices sounded at the tent entrance and a pair of army boots stopped in front of the Shelby.

"Come on out here woman, I think it is time for you and I to have another little chat." Colonel Hancock ordered as he looked down at the sneakers and black pants sticking out from under the car.

"Stay hidden or go offline." Sarah quickly tapped on the underside of the Shelby's engine.

"_But Sarah"_ The AI began but he was cut off by Sarah's rapid tapping.

"Stay!" And Sarah pushed herself out from under the Shelby and stood up facing the scar-faced leader of the guerillas.

The Colonel took a moment to look his prisoner over. She looked a little the worse for wear, her cloths were covered in dirt and grease from working around the car all day. Her hair was messy and she had dirty smudges on her face and hands. However she was still in one piece. She was his prize lure, and once he caught Traceur, well… he couldn't say if she would fare as well.

"I want to know what is taking you so long to fix the car. I thought someone with your knowledge would have had it fixed hours ago."

Sarah knew he was baiting her, she could hear the sneer plainly in his voice. She squared her shoulders and lifting her chin she looked him right in the eye.

The Colonel smiled, the woman had spirit. He was just about to say something more to goad the woman further when his lieutenant stepped into the tent.

"Colonel! Badger just reported in, he spotted a strange footprint on a trail into camp." Fletcher said as his eyes briefly flicked over the woman tech before returning to his leaders face.

"Excellent. That…" The Colonel started to say when a loud horn started blaring.

The Colonel pulled his 9mm and held it to Sarah's head, with his other hand he grabbed her arm and forced her around in front of him. "Fletcher unhook the woman's chain, then make sure the men are in their positions. Traceur _can not_ be allowed to get away." The Colonel ordered as the horn stopped.

Pushing Sarah in front of him, the Colonel forced her out of the tent and into the lighted compound as the sound of gunfire came from the other side.

"Traceur! Come out with your hands up or I will put a bullet through your woman's stomach! Do you know how painful it is to slowly die with a bullet in your gut?" The Colonel bellowed as he pointed his gun at Sarah's stomach. "To help you make up your mind, you should know I like to use hollow tipped bullet's, do you know how much they will tear apart this pur'ty lil' woman's innards?"

Sarah felt the blood drain out of her face. This man was insane! He was baiting Mike! Could Mike really be out there? Then an even more frightening thought crossed Sarah's mind, what if it wasn't Mike? She had no doubt in her mind that the man standing behind her would do just as he said.

"Let Sarah go! It's me you want. There's no reason to hurt her." Mike's voice called across the compound.

Relief flooded through Sarah, it was Mike. Then as realization that Mike was here set in, fear replaced the short-lived relief she had felt.

The Colonel laughed, then yelled "Traceur, I have used up all my patience waiting for you to get here. I am going to count to three and if you do not surrender. I will fire one round into your woman for every second after that, that you make me wait."

Mike could see Sarah being held by the scar faced man from the warehouse where he had been hurt. His worst nightmare was unfolding before his eyes, he had no choice but to give up. At this range he could shoot the man holding Sarah, but he had also noticed the guards that had taken up positions around the compound most of them had their weapons pointed in his direction. He could see at least three though that had their guns pointed at the man and Sarah. Their purpose was clear, if he shot the man, they would shoot Sarah.

"One!"

Mike heard sounds behind him as guards closed in from behind. Fear like he had only felt twice before gripped him, it wasn't fear for himself but for Sarah, when he was caught there wasn't going to be any way for him to protect her.

"Two!"

Mike turned to his training as a soldier, and pushing all his emotions aside he threw his gun out into the clearing as he yelled "Alright! I'm coming out. I give up."

Sarah wasn't sure what she expected when she saw Mike step out of the bushes with his hands held high in the air, but it wasn't the gut turning feeling of despair that she felt.

Tears she couldn't hold back began to pour down her face as the guards closed around Mike, forcing him to his knees they tied his hands behind his back.

The Colonel smiled, he loved it when a plan came together. He pushed the woman towards Traceur keeping his 9mm firmly shoved into her back. Three long years it had taken him to get to Traceur so he could exact his revenge.

"_Sarah? Sarah can you hear me? What is going on? My scanners can not pick up your bio-signal. Sarah?" _Sarah could barely make out KITT's voice through her earwig, even though she was less then forty feet from the tent where she had come from.

Mike looked up at Sarah as she was brought towards him. He could see the tears running down her dirty face and there was dried mud and dirt all over her, but it looked as if she was unhurt. Taking a deep breath he asked. "Sarah, are you alright?"

Sarah looked into his dark brown eyes, his expression was guarded, she knew that look, it was the look he used a lot when they had first met up back in Las Vegas almost a year ago, it was the look she now associated with the soldier in him.

"Yes I'm okay. They have our Shelby though." Sarah said letting Mike know that KITT was here too.

"Alright! All right, enough talk. Jackson! McNeil! Take our 'guest' to the interrogation tent." Colonel Hancock barked out the order. "And you can come with me. I have something special planned for you." He said to Sarah as he put his arm around Sarah's waist pulling her hard against him, his gun barrel bruising her ribs.

"You sonofabitch! Let her go!" Mike roared as he came to his feet in one sudden lunge as he tried to get to Sarah.

Sarah watched helplessly as the butt of one of the guard's guns made contact with the back of Mike's head with a sickening thud.

Sarah's scream pierced the night air.

**

The Shelby could hardly believe his short -range scanners when the guard who had taken the chain off of Sarah dropped it and it had landed on his front tire sliding over it and catching in his front axel. Effectively chaining the AI to the prototype missile's firing mechanism. He couldn't go forward because the missile sat just five feet in front of him, he had run the schematics and his tire needed to rotate more then that to try to dislodge the chain. Backing up was out of the question too, unless he wanted to set the missile off. His laser wouldn't aim low enough to hit the chain tether that close to him. His grappling hook was useless, as was his sleeping darts, attack mode and turbo boost. The AI even wondered briefly if Sarah had somehow told the guard to chain the Shelby to the missile. With an uncharacteristic huff, the AI thought sarcastically at least I can 'stay'.

However AI's were not programmed to stay idle for long so ignoring the fact that he could not move without blowing himself up, along with everything within a fifty-foot radius. The AI had already looked up the prototypes schematics. KITT began to again search through the nearby computers for anything that might be of help.

It had only been seconds since Sarah had been forced to leave the tent with the Colonel, the AI's thought process took only mille seconds. When the AI noticed a sudden increase in the jamming mechanisms strength, jamming his link with Sarah. The AI tried to call out to her but there was no response. The jamming device made his long-range scanners inoperative. The AI was completely blind as to what was happening outside of the tent he was in.

The sound of Sarah's scream tore through the AI like a voltage spike causing him to uncharacteristically use some of the more colorful expletives that he had heard Mike use on occasion, cursing his present state of helplessness.

**

Ice cold water being dumped over Mike's head brought him sputtering out of the blackness of unconsciousness. The first thing he noticed when he tried to move was that his wrists were secured behind him and his ankles were tied to the chair he was sitting in. Raising his head he looked around and saw three men standing in front of him, one was the scar-faced man from the warehouse. All three were wearing army fatigues and smiling nastily at him.

Mike shook his head trying to shake the water out of his eyes and clear his head, which was starting to pound. Yup, he thought sarcastically, his head was still softer then a rifle butt.

"Traceur so nice of you to join us. My name is Colonel T.J. Hancock in case you don't remember." The Colonel said softly as he stepped right up to Mike looking him in the eye. "I am going to enjoy making you pay for the treason you have committed against this great country. You and those like you have no place in our new order, but don't worry when I get done with you even that woman tramp of yours won't recognize you."

Mike stared at the mad man in front of him, the man was completely of his rocker! "You are insane!"

The Colonel smiled his eyes reveling just how deranged he was. "Insane? Some of the most brilliant minds of our time where said to be insane."

Mike knew he was in trouble, because there would be no reasoning with this man. Movement behind Hancock drew his eyes and the situation went from bad to worse. He could see Sarah standing next to a metal post by the side of the tent with her hands tied together chained to the post over her head. A piece of tape was over her mouth, her eyes wide as she watched what was happening ten feet in front of her.

The Colonel turned his head to look at the woman. Yes torturing Traceur was going to be fun.

"You know Traceur I have never understood why a woman would want to be a soldier, they just are not cut out to deal with pain the way men are." The Colonel said softly so only Mike could hear.

"You sonofabitch! I will kill you if you hurt her!" Mike snarled back.

"Hurt her? Oh I have no intention of hurting her. Well not physically anyway. You know I've heard women can be driven mad by being forced to watch the ones they love being tortured to death. Let's just see if the intelligence I received was correct and one Sarah Graiman loves one Mike Traceur." The Colonel said sadistically.

The tiny seed of fear that he had been able to suppress since his blow up at the SSC, when he had found out Sarah had been assigned as KITT's new driver, exploded filling him with helplessness and dread. He didn't know what Hancock had planned, but he needed to survive whatever the mad man had planned so that he could get Sarah, KITT and himself the hell out of here.

**

Sarah watched helplessly as the two guerilla guards stripped Mike of his shirt and stuck four leads onto his bare skin attaching the other ends to a metal box that had a dozen or so dials on it. She glanced away from Mike to see that the Colonel was sitting in a chair off to the side with his feet up on a crate, relaxed, as if he was about to watch a TV show.

The faint hum of electricity followed by Mike's gasp snapped Sarah's eyes back to the horror in front of her. She watched as the two guerillas played with the controls on the box before again sending the electrical current coursing through Mike's body.

Again and again electricity raced through Mike's body.

Sarah could see the strain on his face as he fought the pain, his jaw clenched barely uttering a sound. She wanted to cry, and scream her outrage through the tape covering her mouth as her heart broke every time Mike was forced to endure the agony. But she didn't because she had to be strong for him. She knew that Mike would fight as long as he could against these men and that he was trying the only way he could to protect her. She knew also that he would willingly go through hell to try to protect her. With a shudder she thought he just might have to if this torture continued for much longer.

**

Time lost all meaning as the guerillas continued torturing Mike. They didn't say a thing to him or Sarah.

All that really mattered was current or no current. His body ached from the constant assault, pain began to fog his thoughts, but one thing remained clear, his view of Sarah as she stood tied to a post watching helplessly as he was tortured.

* * *

A/N Firstly I want to apoligize for taking so long to post this chapter, it really gave me a whole lot of trouble! I think I rewrote it three times! I know another

cliff hanger, and I'm sorry about that too but I have to end the chapters somewhere and unfortunately my evil side tends to like cliffies! :) I would like to thank

everyone who has left a review, thank you! I appreciate every single one! I would also like to thank my bata anyabar1987 who got this chapter right back to me

even though she was very busy! Thank you! ;) As always reviews are greatly appreciated. I hope to be able to update again very soon! Until next time, cytpotter.


	11. Chapter 11

**A/N** I would like to apologize to everyone for taking so long to post this update. It really isn't a good excuse but I was so irate when Knight Rider was cancelled that I threw a very immature, childish temper tantrum! I even refused(and still do!) to even go to that horrid channel to watch a single thing that they show! I haven't even watched a single episode of Knight Rider since then! I know immature! But like I said I was MAD! Since then I've calmed down and am feeling very guilty for my long hiatus. Plus I have to admit that I would of posted sooner but about 3 weeks ago I fell, and fell hard! In love with Twilight, so I've been on a Twilight binge! However, that being said I have promised that I will finish this story and I do intend too! My brain has had it's fun with Edward, so I know with a little encouragement, and a couple of episodes of Knight Rider! I will be able to get Mike firmly back in my totally over active mind and write some more!

So without any more rambling! :)

You know I don't own Knight Rider, cause if I did I WOULD NEVER OF CANCELLED IT!!!!!!!

Switching Places

Chapter 11

With an effort Mike opened his eyes he had lost count of the number of times he had blacked out, his body over riding his will power as he tried to outlast the pain that was being inflicted upon his body. Slowly he lifted his head to look at Sarah and he could see the unshed tears she fought to control. He tried to smile at her, to let her know he would be okay but the slight widening of her eyes told him that he hadn't quite pulled it off.

A thought was trying to push its way through the haze in his mind, with an effort he concentrated on it until like a splash of cold water, it broke through. Sarah and him were alone in the tent. Looking around he noticed the empty chair and the vacant control box where the electricity that had coursed through his body had come from.

He wanted to say something to Sarah but he wasn't sure if he could force any sound past the thick roll of cotton that was supposed to be his tongue. To say that he was thirsty would be an understatement. It was as if the electricity burned all the moisture out of his body, which wasn't far from the truth when he remembered all the sweat that had poured off his body.

Biting and chewing on his tongue he forced his saliva glands to give up a few drops of precious moisture. He rolled the spit around in his mouth until his tongue wasn't as dry or thick then he swallowed and proceeded to cough as the spit seemed to dry up on the way down his parched throat. But he had succeeded, he could now move his tongue enough to force out something close to speech.

"Sa'rah" He croaked. "You al'wight?"

Sarah nodded her head she had been trying to rub the tape that was covering her mouth off ever since the guerilla's had left but she didn't quite have it off yet. Doubling her efforts she was able to break the tapes hold on her chin and free her lower lip from the tape.

"Mike! Oh god, are you okay?" Sarah whispered, as she looked at him his hair was still damp from sweat and there were ugly red marks around the leads that were stuck to his skin.

Mike nodded his head, he'd be just fine after he got a drink. "Ye'ah" he croaked back.

**

The red lights on the prow of the Shelby tracked restlessly back and forth as the AI reviewed for the eight hundred sixty seven thousand nine hundred ninety third, time every scenario to go find Sarah since he had lost contact with her eleven hours thirty eight minutes twenty seven seconds ago. He had his order to stay, and he hadn't come up with a single course of action that could fulfill that order and help Sarah. He had also tried countless times to access the communications-jamming device but as of yet he had been unsuccessful. No guards had returned to the tent since Sarah had been taken away, but he couldn't be certain whether or not there were guards stationed outside of the tent as the jamming device was still affecting his long-range scanners.

It was only after a great deal of research through his vast data banks that KITT came to realize that what he was feeling, was helplessness.

With a desire to do something, anything the AI activated his nano shield, and with a slight sizzle, that no one was around to hear the Shelby's exterior was once again sleek and shiny the light from the morning sun creeping under the sides of the tent glinting off of it.

**

Murphy ran an irritated hand through his short hair as he waited by the small clearing that they used to land helicopters. He hated being sent on these errands, but he surmised someone had to come get Mr. Smith. The Colonel didn't want the city slicker getting lost on his way to camp.

He watched as the helicopter landed and a tall well dressed man got out carrying a briefcase. As the helicopter powered down Mr. Smith hurried towards him hunched over.

"This way Mr. Smith," Murphy called and led the way through the bushes to a waiting dune buggy. Once there he handed a blindfold to Mr. Smith and made sure it was in place before he started the dune buggy's engine.

As he drove back towards camp Murphy couldn't help but wonder if the briefcase Mr. Smith was holding tightly held the millions of dollars for the prototype missiles the guerilla's had hijacked.

The camp was well hidden from any road and few people knew of the small box canyon, and fewer still knew about the game trail that Murphy was now following. He had helped clear and widen the trail in a couple of places to allow the dune buggy to maneuver through the rough terrain, and descend down the side of mountain to the camp. Along with the interference that the jamming device created Murphy was certain their camp would remain hidden.

Stopping beside the Colonel's tent he escorted Mr. Smith to his commanding officer.

"Colonel, sir!" Murphy said as he snapped a smart salute to his commanding officer, before turning and leaving the tent, knowing he wasn't allowed to stay.

**

An hour later Mr. Smith and Colonel Hancock closed the door to the semi-trailer.

Mr. Smith nodded to _the Colonel_ and said, "Yes, Hancock you have done well. You can have your dozen missiles, minus the one you fired at the Knight Industries Three Thousand, as soon as the shipment makes it safely over the Mexican border." Smith knew that _the Colonel_ wouldn't be impressed with the dig he just gave about the missing missile, but he knew _the Colonel_ would never argue with him about it. He was_ the_ _Colonel's_ golden goose, without him _the Colonel's_ little army would quickly run out of money and weapons. He didn't need the man's friendship only his obedience, and he had ways of assuring that the self-appointed_ Colonel_ remembered that.

"Would you like to see the car? I had the Graiman woman fix it for you…" The Colonel began, he hated his dependency on this pompous ass, but it took a lot of money to keep his band of freedom fighters together. Plus the state of the art technology that he was able to get from the man made it worth putting up with his highhanded attitude, for now.

"You What!" Smith yelled before he was able to control the shot of panic that had sliced through him at Hancock's unassuming statement.

The Colonel looked sharply at the man walking beside him, but Smith quickly recovered.

"I… Well I didn't think that you would be able to convince Graiman to do the repairs, she can be quite headstrong at times." Smith said he didn't want the guerilla's to know any more about the Knight Three Thousand then they already did. That they just thought it was an armored car was fine with him, and it didn't hurt that Hancock was greedy not just for money but weaponry. Smith had been able to 'buy' the Shelby for a couple missiles and some cold cash.

"Yes, well we have a way of getting females to do what we want here. Women have their place and they do well around here to remember it." The Colonel said with a self-satisfied smile.

"Yes well, I would very much like to see the car, you are keeping it under guard I hope." Smith replied suppressing his desire to roll his eyes at the antiquated views of the man beside him. He was much more interested in how the guerillas were holding the Knight Three Thousand if indeed Graiman had fixed the car.

Smith guessed he shouldn't have been all that surprised that no one was standing guard over the car, what did surprise him though was that the Shelby was sitting passively in the tent without a single flaw in the shinny mirror like surface of the car.

"Huh, Murphy must 'a polished her up" Hancock muttered as he looked over the car.

Smith smiled as he noticed the chain wrapped over the Shelby's front tire, the chain attached to one of the prototype missiles. So that was why the Knight Three Thousand was still sitting here, impressive. He would never of dreamed that _the Colonel_ would think of something like that, or as Smith thought more about it, he couldn't believe that Hancock had gotten so lucky!

Walking slowly around the Knight Industries Three Thousand, Smith was again impressed with the unassuming look of the car. Only the red lights tracking back and forth just above the grill gave any indication of the artificial intelligence inside. He smiled to himself, in a matter of hours he would be the new controller of this magnificent car, and with it under his control there would be no stopping him.

His hand tightened on his briefcase, and he said, "I believe you and I have some business to finish up, right Hancock?"

The Colonel nodded and led the way out of the tent.

**

KITT's scanners had only just picked up the two approaching men as they paused out side the tent to open the flap before coming in. He still couldn't adjust his scanners to compensate for the interference from the communications jamming device.

Colonel Hancock, he recognized right away, but he wasn't able to match the other man in the business suit carrying a brief case with any of the guerilla's in the camp or any known person in his memory banks.

The AI watched as the man in the business suit walked all the way around him, but it wasn't until he spoke that KITT recognized him. After running the voice through his voice analyzer software three times KITT was certain beyond a doubt, this was the mystery voice he had heard speaking to Alex Torres about shutting FLAG down.

**

Sarah watched Mike as he sat dozing in the chair the even rise and fall of his chest reassuring Sarah that he was alive. It must have been several hours since they had spoken, Sarah could track the time by the changing position of the sunlight peeking under the tent flap. She had rubbed her wrists raw trying to free them from the handcuffs, but she just couldn't pull her hand out through. Her arms had gone numb from holding her hands above her head and her legs were aching from standing in one place for so long.

A breeze shifted the side of the tent and Sarah could see something glinting in the dirt, it was a broken light bulb. Glancing at the tent flap, she slipped her foot out of her shoe and with her toes reached for the broken bulb. Gritting her teeth she crushed the remaining glass away from the filament then she dragged the broken light bulb, minus the glass, over to where she was standing. Carefully standing on the filament with her shoe, she worked the base of the light bulb back and forth with her toes until she had broken the filament free.

She glanced at the tent flap once more, there were voice's approaching. Quickly she wrapped her toes around the filament and dropping it into her shoe first, she shoved her shoe back on. She just had time to kick the base of the light bulb back over under the canvas of the tent before two men entered.

Sarah felt her heart start to pound and her jaw clamp tight as she recognized Colonel Hancock, she had come to hate him for torturing Mike like he had. The man in the business suit she didn't recognize.

"As we agreed I caught Traceur, the woman and the car, now I expect you to uphold your end of the deal and pay up. As you can see they are not going anywhere." Colonel Hancock said as he stopped in front of Mike.

Sarah was appalled when the Colonel drew his hand back and slapped Mike across the face to wake him up. Leaving an ugly red handprint behind.

"Wake up Traceur, we can't have you sleeping all day! What would your C.O. think?" The Colonel said sarcastically.

Sarah could see the anger that colored Mike's face and the dangerous flash in his eyes but when he opened his mouth to say something all that came out was an unrecognizable croak.

"What's that there Traceur I didn't quite catch that, maybe what you need is a little drink of water?" The Colonel taunted before picking up a gallon jug off of the ground and pouring the water over Mike's face.

Mike tried to drink as much of the water as he could but because it was pouring over his whole face he wasn't able to draw a breath of air between swallows and he was soon sputtering and twisting his head around so that he could breathe.

"Why don't you just leave him alone!" Sarah yelled unable to watch this new form of torture any more. "Why are you doing this?"

Hancock turned away from Mike and set the empty jug down before walking over to stand in front of Sarah.

"You would be wise to keep your mouth closed." The Colonel reached up suddenly and pulled the tape the rest of the way off of Sarah's face. "You are my prisoner-of-war, I can do with you whatever I please, and you'd be smart to stay on my good side." The Colonel lifted his hand back up and stroked the side of Sarah's face with his fingers.

Sarah wasn't able to stop herself from pulling away from the Colonel's hand even though she had decided to show him no fear.

A cruel smile stretched across the scared face, distorting it grotesquely.

Suddenly the Colonel's hand made contact with Sarah's face with a resounding crack, the force of which sent her reeling backwards, the post her hands were chained to was the only thing that saved her from falling down.

"AARRGGHH!" Mike roared as he struggled in vain to get loose from the chair he was tied to. "Leave Her Alone! I'll Kill You! You Sonofabitch!"

Sarah's face stung from the blow and she could feel tears prickling in her eyes, she blinked rapidly to force them away. As the tears receded, anger took its place.

"As much as I would like to stay " Mr. Smith began causing the three others in the tent to look at him in surprise. " and watch this little display of dominance I have things that I must do. Hancock I believe you and I have some unfinished business?"

Sarah watched as the Colonel turned back towards her a look of pure venom on his face. She was unable to stop herself from flinching as the Colonel's hand came up again, but this time he unlocked the padlock that secured her handcuffs to the post.

"Let's just see if a little time apart might be just the spice this 'relationship' needs." Hancock sneered as he turned around with the chain attached to Sarah's handcuffs in his hand.

"So help me if you hurt her, there will be no place on this earth, or in hell, that you will be able to hide from me." Mike snarled as his eyes flashed dangerously.

The hairs on Sarah's neck stood up at the acidic tone of Mike's voice. She had never heard him speak with such animosity. She almost felt sorry for the man holding her chain tether.

"Traceur your empty threats do not scare me." Laughed the Colonel, but Sarah couldn't help but notice the laugh sounded a bit hollow as if he too was a bit unnerved by Mike's tone.

"Mike, I'll be fine." Sarah said automatically, knowing as she said it that she had no way of knowing if that would be true or not.

Mike glanced at Sarah, and the look in his eyes was fierce, almost feral. As their eyes meet though Mike's eyes darkened and a whole range of emotions played briefly in them fear, doubt, anguish and for the briefest moment Sarah could of sworn she saw love.

"Yeah Traceur, she'll be fine. As long as she does exactly as I say." Colonel Hancock sneered as he pulled on the chain attached to Sarah's handcuffs leading her out of the tent.

Mike watched as Sarah was lead away from him and he was helpless to stop it. A feeling of total despair settled heavily on his shoulders and a traitorous thought slipped unbidden into his mind.

What if that was the last time he ever saw Sarah?

**

KITT had been trying unsuccessfully to reach Sarah, even boosting his signal strength to it's maximum he wasn't able to penetrate past the interference from the jamming device. To say the AI was frustrated would be an understatement.

He had run every scenario he could come up with, he had even calculated and recalculated his chances of ramming the missile, or reversing at high speed activating the triggering device, he had even run turbo boosting away from the missile through his mainframe. They all ended the same way with the Shelby being blown apart and everything within a fifty-foot radius as well.

That was a chance the AI just wasn't willing to take not when he didn't know the location of Sarah or Michael, if he was indeed here too.

The AI just had to resign himself to the fact that he was stuck here until a human came along and removed the chain that kept him anchored to the missile.

The fact that there was a man here that KITT identified as talking to Torres about shutting down FLAG only made the AI feel more helpless.

Everything that the AI had been able to gather so far about this situation didn't set well with the AI's very advanced algorithms. All these stolen prototype missiles along with all the classified schematics, and the communications jamming device all from Knight Industries Research and Development laboratories. The scared man, Colonel Hancock, from the warehouse where Michael was injured plus at least three more of these men where there. Also he had identified another guerilla that had been at Sarah and his first mission together in Canada. Then there was the man with the voice that had talked to Torres, the Shelby didn't believe that he was here by coincidence.

What did it all mean? The AI wasn't sure but until he received some more information he was just pardon the pun, spinning his wheels.

The AI suddenly picked up a faint signal but even as he tried to narrow his scanners coverage area the signal was gone.

The sudden appearance of the guerilla computer tech on the opposite side of the tent actually startled the AI.

KITT watched as the incompetent man did something on one of the computers, out of pure boredom the AI linked with the computer and watched the tech delete the game he had been playing earlier on the computer. It wasn't until the tech finished deleting the game and reached behind him and picking up a USB cable and plugged it into the computer that KITT was able to finally locate the communication-jamming device.

**

As Sarah followed the Colonel she was quite certain she passed right by the tent in which KITT was sitting and she wondered not for the first time if the AI was all right. Over the past couple of months she had grown used to constantly being in communication with the AI and while at times she had to admit it was annoying, she was eternally grateful that she'd been able to communicate with him after she'd been captured.

With a tug the Colonel lead her into another tent and taking another padlock out of his pocket he fastened her chain tether to the front bumper of an old army jeep sitting in the tent.

"This 'otta hold you until Mr. Smith and I complete our business, then I'll be back. And you and I will have a little chat." The Colonel said as he smiled down at Sarah, a predatory gleam in his eye. "All right Sweet Cheeks?

A shiver of fear snaked down Sarah's back as she watched the Colonel and the man in the business suite walk out of the tent. With a trembling hand she ran her fingers gingerly over her left cheek where the hand print from the Colonel was still smarting, a fear unlike any she had felt before coiled into the pit of her stomach, threatening to paralyze her.

Taking deep calming breaths she forced her mind into action. Mike was not going to be able to come charging to her rescue, and neither was KITT. She worried her bottom lip as she thought about all that had happened since she had started this mission.

Working on a problem even a seemingly unsolvable one always helped to calm her fears and she was able to start planning a course of action, instead of sitting here like some helpless female waiting to be rescued.

Sitting down on the ground Sarah removed her shoe and removed the filament she had taken from the light bulb. She wasn't sure if she could pick the lock on her handcuffs, but she was sure willing to give it a try.

With a faint click the second lock on the handcuff sprang open, and the first smile in almost 48 hours spread across Sarah's face as she messaged her free wrists. It was with a growing sense of freedom Sarah thanked god that had grown up trailing after Mike, because lock picking was just one of the many skills she had learned on her summer vacations hanging around with him.

* * *

A/N Well there it is! I hope you aren't too mad at me! I know my excuses are unexcuseable! (And No I can't spell today! :) I know I don't deserve a review but you

would really make my day if you did! Plus it will help motivate me! :) :) I really am sorry for taking so long to update!

Well until next time! (it won't be as long a wait), a very guilty feeling, cytpotter.


	12. Chapter 12

Me own Knight Rider? Ha Ha Ha! If I did it would of never been cancelled!

Here's a little present to all the faithfull readers! Happy Holidays!

Switching Places

Chapter 12

Greedily the Colonel's eyes traveled over the money that sat in Mr. Smith's open briefcase; one point one million dollars. It was enough money to keep his camp running for another sixteen months, longer if he got rid of a couple of slackers.

"What's that thing? Hopefully you were not stupid enough to bring a homing signal into my camp?" The Colonel asked as he picked up the small gray box and noticed the USB ports.

"A homing signal?" Mr. Smith laughed at the absurdity of the man in army fatigues holding the portable hard drive. "Do you think I want someone to be able to find this little camp? With _my_ prototype missiles still in it? Don't be daft! That is just a computer program to override the Knight Three Thousand's programming; I need it so that I can take control of the car." He spoke slowly as if explaining to a child and it wasn't far from the truth, Smith thought as he reached over and took the hard drive from Hancock.

Smith looked down at the small gray box. Only he knew just what was on it and how important the programs that it contained were to his ability to control the Knight Three Thousand. It had taken him months of careful planning and manipulating to locate these programs while he stayed out of the SSC. Then his timing needed to be perfect to go to the SSC and retrieve the programs, the impending capture of the Knight Three Thousand along with the communications black out caused by the electrical storm had provided the ideal situation for him to go to the SSC.

Poised, as he was on the edge of finally achieving his greatest heist, he knew he was past the point of no return. He would never be able to return to his former life, but with the abilities that the Knight Three Thousand possessed he would easily be able to manipulate any computer system and he would be untouchable.

Lying on her stomach, Sarah peeked out under the edge of the tent canvas. It was almost twilight, and the camp was cast in deep shadow by the mountains to the west. She couldn't see much except the outline of the tent across from her, however there weren't any guards there either. For a moment she paused, she knew that at anytime the Colonel or one of his men could walk into her tent, and she wasn't exactly sure how much time had passed since the Colonel and the man dressed in the business suit, Mr. Smith, had left.

She had already decided that if she could get loose she would go free Mike, and then they could go find KITT together. It was a simple plan, however executing it without being caught would be the problem.

Taking a deep breath and double checking to make sure the coast was clear, Sarah slipped out from under the edge of the canvas and carefully made her way toward the back of the tent and some crates that were piled up there.

Once she was safely hidden she carefully looked out through the holes in the wooden slats of the crates. Her hand was shaking slightly as she wiped the sweat from her forehead. All the time she had spent while growing up, playing in the woods with Mike hadn't prepared her for this deadly game. If she was caught she had no doubt about what the Colonel would do with her, and if she weren't careful she would probably end up getting Mike killed too.

A slight movement to Sarah's right caused her to freeze.

A guard had just walked around the far end of the tent carrying a rifle. He paused and looked towards the crates.

As she stared at him through the slats she was afraid that her pounding heart might give away her location, even though she was hidden behind the crates and in total darkness.

It wasn't until the guard turned and walked away from her that she allowed herself to draw in a shaky breath. She was beginning to realize how dependent she had become on KITT and his surveillance to guide her through sticky situations, and this was the most dangerous one she had ever been in. Without thinking she raised her hand to her ear and pushed the silent earwig securely in place.

Frustrated to the point of breaking, Mike still sat alone in the tent staring through the gloom at the indistinct shape of the other chair. His legs had gone numb from sitting for so long, and his shoulders screamed in agony from having his hands tied behind his back. The pain had been made worse from his frantic struggles to get free after Sarah had been taken away.

The only reason he was sitting upright was because the chair he was sitting on was bolted to the steel plate beneath it, to conduct the electricity more easily through his body. However without that plate he would be no doubt laying on the ground now, his struggles would have knocked the chair over, making the current predicament even more uncomfortable.

Mike briefly wondered if he was starting to lose it, when he realized he was thankful for sitting upright.

The past hour or two had been hell on him. His fear of what was happening to Sarah was eating at him like a cancer. He hadn't been able to completely drive the thought that he might never see her again from his mind.

He knew that if he could get free, he was going to kill Hancock for ever touching Sarah. Deep down he knew that he was in love with her, had been ever since he was just a kid. He'd been so confused and angry as a teenager always striking out at everyone who had tried to get close to him, everyone except Sarah. He'd never really thought he was quite good enough for her though, that's why he had walked away from her when Charles had told him she wasn't home that summer. Why he'd joined the army and gotten into the Rangers, because he knew deep down that for all his badass ways that made him think he was cool, he just wasn't good enough for Sarah Graiman.

Giving his head a shake he tried to clear it. This line of thinking was doing him no good. He had come here to rescue Sarah, but all he'd managed to do was to get himself caught.

He wondered again where KITT was, Sarah had said that the AI was here but Mike hadn't seen the Shelby at all.

Did that mean the Shelby was out of commission? He wished he had been able to ask Sarah more while he had the chance, but he'd been kind of out of it after the shock treatment. The water had revived him, even though he had only been able to drink a fraction of what he wanted to quench his thirst.

If KITT was disabled then he knew his job had just become harder.

"Great, just what I need, more problems." He muttered disgustedly to himself.

Even though he didn't want to admit it, he had been counting on the Shelby to escape in. And no small part of that worry was about whether KITT was all right or not.

If KITT had been damaged… Mike shook his head again, he didn't like thinking about his partner being _damaged._ He knew the AI didn't have _real feelings_, but still he had seen the AI, usually caused by something Mike had asked the Shelby to do, damaged and it did bother him. Somewhere along the way Mike had stopped thinking of the Shelby as a car, and started thinking of him as his partner and… a friend.

The sound of voices outside the tent brought Mike's wandering thoughts back to the situation he was in and he listened to the two male voices as they passed near the tent. The two were discussing tonight's football game, and Mike wondered if they were guards or not as he had been attempting to keep track of the intervals between men passing his tent, so that if he did get free he'd have a good base knowledge of their routine checks.

A seemingly useless endeavor at the moment, but Mike's military training had instilled in him the need to gather as much info as possible and always be prepared.

With a disgusted snort Mike knew he had botched this mission, but he hadn't been so successful in the rangers because he gave up easily. No, giving up wasn't in his vocabulary. Unbidden, Sarah's face appeared before his mind's eye; the brave look on her face as Hancock led her away from him; but in her eyes he had seen her fear, the image would be forever burned in his mind.

With renewed vigor Mike struggled against the bindings that held him helpless in that chair.

Sarah had just made it to her new hiding place behind a tarp covered crate, as another guard appeared around the corner of the next tent. Heart pounding she watched as he looked in her direction, then kept walking up the row of tents he had just come from.

Drawing in a deep breath, she tried to slow her pounding heart and calm her jittery nerves.

"_Sarah!"_

Sarah almost jumped out of her skin, her hand covered her mouth to stifle her scream.

"_Can you hear me?" _

Relief flooded her as she recognized that familiar voice.

With her heart still pounding erratically Sarah answered with a shaky voice. "Oh god KITT, you scared the crap out of me!"

"_I am sorry I scared you Sarah, that was not my intention. Are you all right? Your heart rate is extremely high." _Concern lightly tinted the AI's voice.

Taking a deep breath again to calm her frayed nerves, Sarah's voice was steadier as she replied softly. "Yeah, I'm ok KITT. It is so good to hear your voice again." Taking another deep breath, she organized her thoughts and asked, "Did you disable the jamming device? Do you have full scanner range?" Her mind whirling with the new possibilities, if this was the case.

_"No, I was not able to disable the jamming device completely, although I was able to modify the signal so that I have limited scanner and communications capabilities. I was able to locate you and your earwig, and I have located whom I believe to be Michael in a tent 57 feet to the northwest of your current location. I am also able to track the movements of the armed personal in your general vicinity. "_

"You know where Mike is?" Sarah whispered before she could stop herself.

"_Yes, I believe so. I have located a heat signature sitting in a tent, that is the same mass and height as Michael."_

A thought occurred to Sarah and she asked. "KITT if you know where he is why didn't you go get him?"

"_Did you not tell me to stay where I am Sarah?"_ The AI's voice took on a note of frustration as he continued. _"Also the chain attached to the prototype missile is caught on my front wheel, I can't move without setting it off." _

Sarah groaned, she had told the AI to stay where he was, but how did he manage to get chained to the missile? Deciding that it wasn't an important point right now, she resolved to keep with her original plan and free Mike, then go get the Shelby.

"KITT, tell me how to get to Mike."

_"Sarah there is an armed guard approaching you from the southwest. If you head north 15 feet then turn east you will be hidden from him."_

"Which way is north?" Sarah glanced up towards the night sky but she was only able to see a few stars in the small patch of sky that wasn't blocked out by mountains.

_"Go 15 feet straight ahead, then turn right. Hurry Sarah! He will be able to see you in 10 seconds!"_

Sarah stood from where she had been hiding behind the tarp covered crate and hurried about 15 feet to the end of the structure then turned right, keeping close to the wall.

Within five minutes, and several close calls of being seen by the guards, she was outside the tent KITT believed Mike was in. She looked around but she couldn't see anything that identified this as the tent in which she had been taken with Mike to be tortured.

Suddenly her mind was swamped with the image of Mike as he was electrocuted, the way he jerked and his muscles contracted as the electricity flowed through his body. She would never forget his face contorted in pain, his jaw locked as he endured it without uttering a sound and his eyes locked on her.

"_Sarah?"_ KITT's voice was filled with concern. _"Are you alright? Your heart rate just escalated, is something wrong?"_

Giving her head a shake to dispel the image from her mind, she whispered to the AI. "No, I'm okay, is Mike in there alone?" Her voice trembled ever so slightly though.

_"Yes. My scanners do not pick up any other heat signatures in the immediate vicinity."_

KITT's scanners had picked up the two men and identified them as Colonel Hancock and the mysterious man whose voice he had heard at the SSC, as they came into his scanners limited range from the opposite direction as Sarah headed straight for the tent he was in.

The AI again wondered who this mystery man was and what he was doing here in this guerilla camp. His clothes and mannerisms didn't fit in with the other members of this camp and KITT's complicated algorithms gave a slight flutter, and the AI wondered briefly if he had his first premonition.

The tent flaps swung back and the two men stepped into the tent with the Shelby. The mystery man headed straight for the computer that sat on the desk and attached an external hard drive to it.

KITT was glad that he could still communicate with Sarah while the two men were here, but what the AI wasn't prepared for was the programs that the hard drive contained.

They were override programs that no one other then Dr. Graiman was supposed to have access to.

Mike heard a whisper from outside. It had been too low for him to hear what was said, but he could have sworn that it was a female's voice.

Sarah

Mike heard the shift of canvas and the sound of someone moving behind him, but try as he might, by looking over his shoulder, he couldn't see anyone in the gloom of the tent.

"Mike?"

Mike's heart slammed against his chest as relief washed over him. He'd recognize that voice anywhere.

"Sarah? Oh god is that you?" Mike asked in a hoarse whisper as relief warred with other emotions when the tall slender woman he had been so worried about materialized out of the gloom to his left side.

"Yeah, it's me. Are you okay?" Sarah's voice whispered back as she came closer and stepped around to his front. In the gloom Sarah could just make out the outline of Mike, his bare, pale skin showing none of the marks that she knew were there from the torture he had endured.

"I'm fine." Mike whispered back. He had recovered from his initial shock. "You need to get me untied before anyone comes."

Sarah nodded and bent to untie the ropes that held Mike in the chair, working quickly she was able to release his legs and the rope that was tied to the handcuffs, keeping him from getting off the chair. "Hold still, I should be able to pick the lock on the handcuffs." Sarah said as Mike began moving his legs and shoulders, she could imagine how stiff and sore his muscles were after being tied up for so long. Pulling the filament out of her pocket that she had used to pick her own handcuffs, she made quick work of the ones on Mike.

Sarah heard Mike groan softly as he brought his hands around to the front of his body, and began to rub them together.

"Mike?" Sarah whispered, suddenly worried that he might not be able to use his hands after they were tied up for so long.

"I'm fine. I just need to wait until I get some feeling back in my hands and legs." Mike whispered as he rolled his shoulders and worked his legs. When he was sure that he could force his legs to work through the pins and needles that pulsed up and down them, he stood up swaying slightly.

Sarah reached out and steadied him as he continued to shake his hands and feet, attempting to restore their feeling.

"Sarah, are you alright?" Mike asked, he wanted to reach out and touch her, to pull her tight against him so that he could feel her body and know she was alright, but in order to do that he needed to wait until the feeling came back into his arms.

"Yeah I'm okay." Sarah whispered.

"_Sarah? Is Michael all right? You need to hurry. I have picked up two heat signatures headed in your direction." _KITT spoke into Sarah's earwig.

"He's okay KITT. Thanks." Sarah answered softly to the AI, before looking up at Mike. "There's someone coming."

Mike nodded and he took a hold of Sarah's hand and guided her to the side of the tent, the desire to hold the woman beside him still strong but the need to protect her was even stronger.

"KITT can you hear me?" Mike whispered once he heard the two guards pass by their tent.

_"Yes Michael." _The AI answered and Sarah nodded her head to show that KITT had responded.

Mike was already forming a plan in his mind as he asked. "Are you damaged? What is your current status?" The plan that had formed vaguely in his mind before when he was tied up solidified and he needed to find out if the Shelby was going to be able to get them out of there or not.

Before the AI answered, Sarah quickly said, "KITT is at about 93% however he somehow managed to get chained to one of the missiles since I left him in one of the tents."

"_I was just following your orders Sarah."_ The AI said sounding slightly put out, before he continued in a brisk manner. _"There is a man here now who has some programs that your father designed to override my current programming and take control. I am attempting to block him."_

"How long can you block him?" Sarah gasped in surprise.

_"Not long, maybe only another three minutes or so."_

Mike was looking at Sarah in concern as she quickly told him what KITT had just imparted to her, and his expression turned to fear.

* * *

I know I'm SORRY! There is no excuse for the year and a half hiatis between chapters. And this is another cliff hanger! Again I am sorry, but I PROMISE I am going to finish this story.

Thank you for waiting and reading. I have never forgot about this story I just hit a major writers block. I won't say I will update soon but I WILL update and finish this story. Here's wishing you all a Happy Holidays!

Until next time, ( when ever that will be! ;) )

cytpotter


	13. Chapter 13

If I owned Knight Rider… the show wouldn't of been cancelled!

Switching Places

Chapter 13

"Hold on KITT, we're coming." Mike muttered as he slipped silently out of the dark tent, Sarah right behind him. He needed to get his hands on a weapon, but he couldn't chance taking one from a guard in case the guard somehow sounded the alarm. He also didn't have time to look in the other tents for one, not now with KITT in danger of being taken over by an unknown hacker.

"_Keep on your current path. There are no heat signatures in your immediate vicinity." _

Sarah relayed the message to Mike.

Using his years of training as an Army Ranger, Mike made his way quickly and silently towards the tent where the Shelby sat making use of the deep shadows near the sides of the tents from the lights in the compound. It took only a couple of quick questions to Sarah to find the tent. He knew that only two men were in the tent with the AI and that one of them was Hancock, also that both of the men were armed with handguns.

"I will take out Hancock and the other one while you get KITT free."

"_Sarah I have only forty-five seconds until he will gain control."_ KITT said quietly into Sarah's earwig.

Sarah nodded as she whispered. "Mike, you have to go after whoever is trying to take over KITT first!"

Mike nodded once and then made his way across the dark space between the tents to the one with the AI in it. He didn't like the thought of not taking out Hancock first, but he couldn't risk the few seconds it would take to put Hancock out of commission before he turned to take out the other guy. Especially if Hancock eluded his first attempt at subduing the traitor.

Mike signaled with his hand, one, two, three.

It was the element of surprise that allowed Mike the precious moments it took to reach the man in the business suit. A solid blow to the side of his head dropped him on the spot.

"Traceur!" Hancock gasped as he watched in stunned silence as the man he thought was safely tied-up, dropped Smith with one punch. An evil smile spread over his scarred face as Traceur turned towards him. The thought of pounding Traceur with his bare hands overriding the self-imposed Colonel's common sense to raise an alarm before he dove at his escaped prisoner.

Mike turned toward Hancock as the man dove at him, catching Mike around the waist with his arms, staggering the ex-army ranger. Mike landed a hard jab to the left side of the colonel's head before he lost his balance and fell to the ground. Hancock was shorter than Mike but stockier, built more like a bulldog with heavy shoulders and large arms with big beefy fists. Every blow he landed on Mike's naked torso made a solid smacking sound.

However Mike was faster and in better shape, despite the ordeal he had just endured and in a knock-them-down-dirty fight he was in his element. Rolling so that he had the advantage he started aiming to put Hancock out of commission. It wasn't long before Hancock, trying to defend himself from the bottom, left an opening and Mike plowed a fist into the stockier man's chin, knocking him out cold.

"Mike! Are you okay?" Sarah asked as she moved around to the other side of the desk where Mike had been fighting. She had already removed the chain from the front tire of the Shelby and made quick work of unhooking the hard drive from the computer on the desk that the man with the suit had been using to try to override KITT's programming.

"Yeah, I'll be fine. We need to get out of here." Mike answered breathing heavily from the fight and wincing at the pain in his ribs from the blows he had received. Plus pain was shooting through the leg that he had broken a couple of months ago, the punishment to his recovering body from the last couple of days was starting to take its toll.

Reaching down he took the 9mm out of the shoulder holster on Hancock, checked it for ammo and slid it into the back waistband of his pants. "KITT can you take out the communications jamming device so we can notify the authorities?" Mike asked quietly as he wearily pushed himself to his feet.

"_No, I'm sorry Michael, I'm afraid I can't. The device is hard wired to a couple of the missiles, and any attempt to tamper with it will undoubtedly set them off."_ The Shelby answered in an even voice before adding. _"There are several heat signatures headed in this direction."_

Sarah glanced from Mike to the Shelby. "KITT we need a distraction do you think you can raise the alarm on the far side of the compound?"

"No!" Mike said quickly. "That will just bring them on us faster. KITT, can you shut off the lights? That should give us more time and give me more cover."

"_Shutting off the lights in the compound now."_ The AI said as the lights in the tent went out as well as the lights outside.

Calls of alarm and confusion could be heard as the guerillas tried to figure out what was going on.

"Sarah, wait for me in KITT. I'm going to make sure no one can use these missiles again." Mike said briskly as he made his way over to the Shelby in the dark, finding his way by the light of the red light that was tracking restlessly back and forth in its grill.

"KITT, I need an earwig, some C4 and a detonator."

The passenger side door opened as the interior light came on and a drawer where the glove compartment was slid open with a display of different high tech communications devices, including the tiny earwig.

Mike picked up the earwig and pushed it securely into his ear, before he turned and reaching into the back seat that had dropped down with array of different forms of explosives. Picking up the block of putty-like material and a detonator, he stood up again.

"Mike, you can't be serious! We need to get out of here! We can go get some help from the Sheriff or the Major at the White Sands Missile Range and then come back for the missiles!" Sarah whispered as she grabbed Mike's arm.

"If we leave, they might move them before we can get back. I'm not willing to risk these things falling into someone else's hands." Mike said pausing to look down at Sarah. "Get in KITT, I'll only be a few minutes."

Emotions warred inside Sarah. On one hand she knew what Mike said was sound. They couldn't leave the missiles here, but on the other hand fear that Mike would be seen and recaptured, or worse, made her heart pound. The sounds of angry men's shouts and the glare from flashlights as the guerillas searched the camp gave the tent an eerie glow.

"But Mike we could…" Sarah began to argue but Mike cut her off.

"Sarah! Don't argue with me now! Get in KITT!" Mike said as he pushed the woman who meant so much to him towards the open passenger door of the Shelby letting go of her when she sat down. Pulling the 9mm out of his waistband he chambered a round, nodded once to Sarah then made his way to the door of the tent.

"Okay KITT, guide me to the missiles, and preferably away from any guerillas." Mike said softly.

Sarah watched as the pale form of Mike as he made his way to the tent flap. She had recognized the tone of his voice, his army mode, even if she couldn't see the hard uncompromising set of his jaw or the steely glint in his eyes. It was what had made him such a good soldier, and caused her so much heartache.

"_Sarah, I believe Michael wanted you to close the door so that you would be protected inside my shell."_ The AI said softly as a soft red and blue light lit up the interior.

Sarah frowned at the AI, as she watched Mike's form disappear out of the tent. The sound from the compound was still chaotic as the guerillas tried to figure out what was going on in the dark.

"KITT, is there still power to the computer on the desk?" Sarah asked as an idea came to her. She hated being left behind, even if she thought that Mike could probably get to the missiles and back more easily without her.

"_Yes Sarah. I just shut down the lights in the compound.."_

A sly smile split Sarah's face as she slid out of the car. "Good."

"_Sarah, where are you going?"_

"Do you still have that program that Billy was working on? That worm virus?" When the AI answered that he did, Sarah continued, "What if we install that in their computers? Slightly modified. That way we can wipe out all their data but we will be able to track anyone who is in contact with them."

"_I believe that will work. Modifying Billy's worm virus now."_

Sarah walked quickly over to the computer on the desk so that she could run the program as soon as KITT installed it on the computer. It only took a few seconds before she could see the worm virus start to work, causing the icons on the screen to shimmer.

"_Sarah, there are several armed heat signatures approaching. Please get back into the car." _The AI said through the earwig.

Turning off the monitor so that no one would readily see what was happening on it, Sarah hurried to the Shelby and got in, instantly the windows tinted so that she wouldn't be seen sitting in the dark Shelby. She was still able to see what was happening outside as the AI displayed the thermal images on the window screen.

"Colonel! Sir, are you okay?" Sarah recognized the voice as one of the men who had been in the tent with her and Mike.

"Son of a Bitch!" Hancock cursed, sounding groggy. "Traceur has escaped, and probably the woman too! Search the camp they cannot be allowed to leave! Shoot them on the spot!"

Sarah watched in varying shades of red, yellow and green, as the two guards helped Hancock up off of the ground.

"What about him?" One of the guards asked pointing a yellowish arm at the man still lying on the ground.

"Forget about him! If Traceur didn't kill him I might! We have our money and the missiles. We don't need him anymore. Now find me Traceur and that woman!" Hancock bellowed as he staggered out of the tent with his two guards, not even looking at the Shelby still sitting silently in the tent.

"_Sarah, I have just informed Michael that Colonel Hancock has regained consciousness and has ordered the guards to be on the look out for him."_ The AI said as he showed a large view of the compound and the heat signature labeled Michael Traceur heading in their general direction. There were also a number of other heat signatures on the screen as the guards were quickly searching through tents as well as the compound.

"KITT is Mike going to be able to make it back here?" Sarah asked as fear began to crawl through her stomach.

"_I have disabled their back up generator. Without the compound lights Michael has a very good chance of making it back here undetected."_

A few seconds later a fluttering light shone through the tent, as the guerillas set off flares to aid in their search.

Crouching behind a crate Mike heard the tell tale pop and zing of flares as they were fired and then the compound was lit up by the pale light from the flares. KITT had helped him to avoid anyone up until now, so he had been successful in planting the C4 in the hidden semi trailer with the missiles in it. He briefly wondered why he hadn't taken time to tie Hancock up but then he reasoned it wouldn't have made any difference, his guards just would have untied him.

Mike watched as a guard entered a tent to his right before he hurried out from behind the crate and keeping to the darker shadows next to the tents was able to make it almost to the tent where the Shelby and Sarah were waiting. A sudden warning from the AI through the earwig had Mike diving for a tarp as another guard headed down between the row of tents where he was hiding.

With a sinking feeling Mike could see the guard pause and turn towards his hiding place. In an instant he came off the ground, two well aimed jabs, one to the throat and another to the back of the neck dropped the guard. Mike snatched up the fallen Uzi and rolled the guard under the tarp to hide his body.

Sarah listened as KITT informed Mike where the guards were, as the light from the flares flickered in the tent. A small square box sitting on the desk beside the computer drew her attention and Sarah realized it was the hard drive with the override commands for KITT.

Jumping out of the Shelby, Sarah rushed towards the desk to grab the small gray box. The ominous sound of a round being chambered froze her in her tracks.

"Well, Miss Graiman, we do get to meet again after all." Mr. Smith said softly as he stood up from behind the desk his 9mm pointed right at Sarah.

Sarah was shocked, not only that she had forgotten all about the man in the business suit but also that he was able to regain consciousness without KITT knowing.

"Ah, your wondering how that super car behind you was not able to detect me," Smith said in the same soft dangerous tone. "Well, it's thanks to this little device. A modification on the communications jamming device that has hidden this little camp from authorities for months now. A smaller personal version if you will." Smith smiled as he pointed to what looked like a pen sticking out of his suit pocket. "Isn't technology fabulous?"

"_I'm sorry Sarah. I was not able to detect that he had regained consciousness. It seems that he indeed has some kind of device that is interfering with my scanners."_ The AI said in her earwig.

"Now I want you to hand over that hard drive you have in your hand. I have no desire to kill you Miss Graiman but I will if I have to." The man in the suit said as he raised the gun he had pointing at Sarah a little higher.

"_Sarah, the device is also interfering with my ability to aim my sleeping darts. I cannot help you. I have informed Michael about what is going on however."_ The AI said quietly into the earwig, a note of frustration in his voice.

At that instant Mike stepped into the tent, the automatic rifle he had taken from the guard pointing at the man in the suit.

"That would be a _very_ bad move mister!" Mike snarled. "If _you_ want to _live_ that is!"

"Ah Traceur, you were able to return faster then I thought you would. Pity that I have to deal with such screw-ups as Hancock, but that is the risk one runs when dealing with second-rate mercenaries. I was hoping at least he would have succeeded in killing you but I suppose I will have to do that myself also."

Sarah looked at Mike, he didn't even glance in her direction, his sole attention was the man in the suit, who was still aiming his gun at her. Although it had lowered a fraction of an inch as he talked to Mike.

"Of course, I could just shoot Sarah and leave you to _Colonel_ Hancock." Smith said with an evil little laugh.

Mike stared at the man in front of him. His total lack of fear was a little unnerving. Either the man had absolutely no fear of dying or for some reason he thought Mike would not shoot him. The answer came a second later.

"_Michael, Smith is wearing body armor underneath his suit."_ KITT informed Mike through the earwig. _"I was finally able to adjust my scanners to get past the device he is using to detect the armor." _

Sarah heard what KITT said also, making a split second decision she dove for the floor the explosion of the 9mm firing followed her descent.

Mike had been about ready to try a plan of his own when Sarah moved. Fear constricted his chest as the 9mm in Smith's hand went off. The next move was so ingrained in the ex-army ranger that he didn't even consciously make the decision to pull the trigger on the automatic or to adjust the muzzle of the weapon to fire at the man's head instead of the armored body.

In three strides Mike reached Smith as he lay on the floor, the blood on his face registering but he didn't stop. His only concern was to get to Sarah and he vaulted the desk, alarmed calls filled the night air as the guerillas reacted to the sound of gunfire.

"Sarah!" Mike cried dropping down beside her, he could see blood but not how badly she was hurt. Not pausing to look Mike scooped her up into his arms and raced to the open passenger door on the Shelby as the sound of pounding feet headed in their direction. He set her in the seat as carefully as he could, before shutting the door and leaping across the Shelby's hood Bo Duke style as someone fired into the tent. The Shelby's engine growled to life as Mike leaped into the driver's seat.

"KITT get us out of here!" Mike ordered as bullets peppered the exterior of the Shelby.

Finally free of the missile and able to act on an order the AI wasted no time reversing out of the tent narrowly missing several guerillas. Once outside the Shelby didn't waste time turning to go forward, instead he raced backward through the compound away from the heaviest gunfire.

Mike left the driving to the AI, he was more concerned right then with how badly the woman beside him was hurt. "Sarah?" He said in a tight voice as he brushed his fingers over her white face.

"_Sarah's vitals are strong she has a flesh wound on her right shoulder that will require medical attention. Also she has a sustained a bump on the head that is likely to have caused a concussion and is the cause of her current unconscious state."_ The AI's calm monotone voice didn't reflect at all the fact that he was racing backwards at a high rate of speed through an enemy compound.

Mike didn't realize he was holding his breath until KITT finished his analysis of Sarah's condition, letting it out slowly he forced his mind back on the situation going on outside the Shelby.

"KITT can you jump the gully to get us out of here?" Mike asked.

_"Yes, I have already made the calculations. You will have to detonate the C4 as we are jumping the river or risk the communications jamming device interfering with the signal."_

"Will we be far enough away to escape the blast of all those missiles?"

"_I am…_ fairly _certain that we will be able to escape the worst of the blast radius."_

"Fairly certain?" Mike cried as the Shelby executed a high-speed turn and accelerated forward.

"_It was impossible for me to accurately calculate just how many missiles are still inside the semi."_ The AI said as the car raced towards the riverbank. _"Now Michael!" _The AI instructed as the front wheels of the Shelby launched into the air as the turbo boosters fired.

Mike pressed the button on the detonator.

The C4 exploded, ripping through the semi and causing the missiles themselves to explode. In only milliseconds came the shockwave from the initial explosions followed by the heat set off from them, exploding gas tanks, propane tanks and the ammunition bunker. The resulting explosions ripped apart the compound killing anyone who was still there.

The shockwave hit the Shelby as the front tires touched the earth, cart-wheeling the car end for end. When the Shelby finally stopped it was off the side of the dirt road wheels down but partly on its side.

As the smoke and dust began to clear the AI was already running a scan on his two occupants and was relieved to find that other then their pre-existing injuries they had escaped the crash unharmed.

"KITT? Are you okay?" Mike asked after a moment as he recovered from the shock of the flips that they had taken.

"_I am currently running a diagnostic but I believe I have only suffered minor damage. I will be able to pull myself out of this ditch with my grappling hook and winch."_

"Sarah?" Mike whispered, as he turned awkwardly toward her in the tilted car.

"_Neither Sarah or you sustained any further injuries."_ The AI sounded slightly relieved to be able to inform Mike of that fact as the Shelby fired its grappling hook into the nearest tree and began to winch itself back onto the road.

As soon as the Shelby was sitting on all four tires again Mike was out of the car and raced around to open the passenger side door so that he could look more fully at Sarah's wounded shoulder. Gently he pulled her dirty t-shirt up to inspect the wound. A long ugly looking groove cut just above her collarbone and up over the top of her shoulder. It was oozing blood but definitely could have been far worse. Picking up the bandage that KITT provided he placed it over the wound and taped it into place. Sarah moaned softly as he was putting the last piece of tape on.

"Sarah, sweetheart, can you hear me?" Mike asked softly as he gently brushed the hair off of her forehead and away from the large bump there.

Slowly Sarah opened her eyes, her head was pounding and she wasn't quite sure where she was or why her shoulder was throbbing. She recognized Mike and knew she was sitting in the Shelby but everything else was a bit fuzzy.

"Mike? What happened?" Sarah asked in a confused voice.

"You're going to be fine. KITT suspects that you might have a concussion. Do you feel dizzy or sick?" Mike asked as he forced his voice to remain calm.

"No, just a bit fuzzy." Sarah answered as things began to come back to her about trying to get the portable hard drive, and her idea to dive to the ground. Looking back on it she supposed it wasn't one of her brighter plans. Looking out the front window of the Shelby she could see an orangish glow dancing on the trees. "Did you succeed in destroying the missiles?"

Mike smiled, "Yeah, they should be all gone."

"_I am relieved Sarah that you remember the missiles, it is a good sign. Michael the SSC is calling."_ KITT said a hint of relief in his voice. _"Putting it up on the view screen now."_

"Sarah! Mike! What the _hell_ is going on?" Torres' voice demanded as his angry face appeared on the windshield view screen.

* * *

I want to say sorry for the long wait for this chapter, and that you won't have to wait long for the next one as I am posting it today. The last chapter!

I want to thank all of you who have left a review! Thank you your continued support means so much to me! Until next time, cytpotter


	14. Chapter 14

If I owned Knight Rider… things would be different! Plus I'd be rich not poor!

Switching Places

Chapter 14

"It's good to see you again too Director." Mike said sarcastically.

"Traceur, I suggest you start talking and now! You are in enough trouble now as it is." Alex Torres growled as he glared at Mike through the view screen.

"Sarah! Oh thank god! Are you alright? I've been so worried." Charles Graiman suddenly appeared beside Alex at the SSC.

Sarah smiled tiredly as she answered. "I'm fine Dad. We were able to find the missing prototype missiles along with a group of mercenaries and…"

"A group of mercenaries? My god Sarah! Surely you didn't try taking them on all by yourselves?" Charles cried as he looked at his daughter, noticing her filthy appearance and blood stained shirt.

"Dad!" Sarah said, raising her voice to stop the tirade she knew was coming. "I will tell you all about it when I get back to the SSC."

"What about the missiles?" Alex asked, breaking in on Sarah. "Who are these mercenaries?"

"They were led by a man named Hancock." Mike began but Torres interrupted him.

"Were? What happened to them?"

"I imagine most, if not all of them were killed when we blew up the missiles, along with the Knight Industries communications jamming device that they were using." Mike growled as he glared at Torres.

24 hours later

Main Hanger in the SSC

The Knight Industries Three Thousand sat in his sling as Katie and Lisa put the final touches on his nano molecular skin.

The guerilla camp had been secured by the troops at the White Sands army base so that investigators from the FBI and Knight Industries could make sure that all the missiles were in fact destroyed, as well as try to identify as many of the guerillas as possible through DNA testing. Michael and Sarah had both received medical attention and been debriefed when they returned to the SSC. The AI had downloaded all the information that he had been able to gather on this mission and the investigators were using his files to help identify the guerillas.

The Shelby watched as his two drivers walked into the hanger and headed towards one of the computer terminals.

The SSC was empty at this time. The lights were dimmed and many of the numerous computer screens turned off. The techs were all taking a much needed break after the hectic lockdown and then the frantic search for the Knight Industries Three Thousand and its drivers.

"You know, no one will think anything of it if you take a couple of days off." Mike said as he followed Sarah over to the computer chair where she sat down gingerly, her right arm in a sling.

Sarah sighed and irritation sounded heavily in her voice, "You sound like my father. I am perfectly capable of running a computer program with my arm in a sling."

A smile pulled at Mike's lips as admiration for the woman who meant so much to him surged through him again. She had been a real trooper through the past day, even hurt she had helped him to ensure that the guerilla camp was secured properly, not to mention her bravery and courage during the mission. Then she had been adamant about bringing everything up in the debriefing with Torres, even going so far as demanding that an internal review be done to determine what files in the SSC had been compromised by Mr. Smith.

His voice was gentle as he said, "I didn't mean it that way, Sarah. Only that you deserve to have a little time off after what we both went through."

The Shelby preformed a scan of its drivers making sure that they were both physically on the mend. With that directive satisfied, the AI watched the easy way the two drivers interacted, making special note of the increased pheromones the two were giving off. The AI still found the interaction between the two confusing. He now had worked with both of his drivers out in the field and while they functioned differently, and went about things in very different ways, they both were very successful in completing their missions. It was when they were together that caused his processors to work overtime trying to understand why, if they felt such a strong physical attraction, one the AI could easily see with his sensors, that they continued to deny that attraction intellectually. It simply baffled the Knight Industries Three Thousand. With a sigh, the AI had picked up from his two drivers, the Shelby watched as they left the SSC, arguing over some inconsequential thing, as their pheromones filled the air surrounding them.

The End.

* * *

I want to say thank you! To all of you who have read this story thru to the end. Knowing you liked this story enough to read it thru to here… well that is a compliment right there! Plus all of you who left a review! Thank you! Your support has helped me get this finished!

I know I have taken a long time to finish this story, but it started out to be only an episode long and now… well it would be at least two episodes long! I know some of you might be wondering what happened to Mr. Smith and to all those bad guys… but the real story was about Mike, Sarah and KITT and their relationship. With that I hope I satisfied you all.

I know I learned a lot writing this story and not the least of which is that I must finishing writing a story before I start posting it! As all of you know who suffered through long waits between chapters know!

I also want to thank my 2 batas, anyabar1987 and barb.c without their help this still wouldn't be published! As my usual ending is rather odd where this is the last chapter I will simply say,

Thank you! from cytpotter


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